Australian Museum Journal Pleistocene ziphodont crocodilians of Queensland
- Shortform:
- Molnar, 1982, Rec. Aust. Mus. 33(19): 803–834
- Author(s):
- Molnar, R. E.
- Year published:
- 1982
- Title:
- Pleistocene ziphodont crocodilians of Queensland
- Serial title:
- Records of the Australian Museum
- Volume:
- 33
- Issue:
- 19
- Start page:
- 803
- End page:
- 834
- DOI:
- 10.3853/j.0067-1975.33.1981.198
- Language:
- English
- Date published:
- 31 January 1982
- Cover date:
- 31 October 1981
- ISSN:
- 0067-1975
- CODEN:
- RAUMAJ
- Publisher:
- The Australian Museum
- Place published:
- Sydney, Australia
- Subjects:
- REPTILIA; PLEISTOCENE; FOSSIL
- Digitized:
- 14 January 2009
- Available online:
- 09 March 2009
- Reference number:
- 198
- EndNote package:
- EndNote file
- Title page:
- Title page (117kb PDF)
- Complete work:
- Complete work (5175kb PDF)
Abstract
The rostral portion of a crocodilian skull, from the Pleistocene cave deposits of Tea Tree Cave, near Chillagoe, north Queensland, is described as the type of the new genus and species, Quinkana fortirostrum. The form of the alveoli suggests that a ziphodont dentition was present. A second specimen, referred to Quinkana sp. from the Pleistocene cave deposits of Texas Caves, south Queensland, confirms the presence of ziphodont teeth. Isolated ziphodont teeth have also been found in eastern Queensland from central Cape York Peninsula in the north to Toowoomba in the south. Quinkana fortirostrum is a eusuchian, probably related to Pristichampsus. The environments of deposition of the beds yielding ziphodont crocodilians do not provide any evidence for (or against) a fully terrestrial habitat for these creatures. The somewhat problematic Chinese Hsisosuchus chungkingensis shows three apomorphic sebecosuchian character states, and is thus considered a sebecosuchian.