Quinkana
Quinkana is an extinct genus of mekosuchine crocodylians that lived in Australia from about 28 million to about 10,000 years ago. Most attributed specimens have been found in Queensland. It is speculated to have been one of the top predators of Pleistocene Australia.
| Quinkana Temporal range: Late Oligocene - Late Pleistocene, | |
|---|---|
| Restoration of the skull of Q. timara at the Central Australian Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
| Clade: | Archosauriformes |
| Order: | Crocodilia |
| Clade: | †Mekosuchinae |
| Genus: | †Quinkana Molnar, 1981 |
| Species | |
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The genus and type species, Q. fortirostrum was named by paleontologist Ralph E. Molnar in 1981. Other species in the genus are Q. timara (1994), Q. babarra (1996), and Q. meboldi (1997). The name Quinkana comes from the "Quinkans", a legendary folk spirit from Gugu-Yalanji mythology.
Quinkana is thought to possess long legs and had ziphodont teeth (lateromedially compressed, recurved, and serrated). The genus is distinguishable by the combination of these ziphodont teeth and a broad snout. It also has a unique alveolar (tooth socket) structure and a short anterior palatine process (upper mouth bone). Quinkana was estimated to be around 3 m (10 ft) in length and to weigh around 200 kg (440 lb), with unnamed Pliocene remains possibly reaching 6 m (20 ft) in length. However, these estimates are based on fragmentary specimens and dimensions of related genera as there have been no complete Quinkana specimens found.
Quinkana was originally attributed to family Crocodylidae in 1981 without a further classification because of its unique physical characteristics. Some of its particular morphological traits shared by other Australian crocodile genera were entirely unique (primarily dentary and snout formations) which led to the creation of the subfamily Mekosuchinae in 1993 to accommodate it.
The genus has been argued amongst paleontologists to be entirely terrestrial or semi-aquatic with no definitive consensus. Academic analysis cites comparative morphologies as indicators of Quinkana’s habitation to be terrestrial, but others argue that most specimens were discovered near known sources of water. An ongoing debate also persists about its dominance as a Pleistocene predator based upon the proportional quantity of predacious reptilian discoveries compared to predacious mammalian predators. The opposing side questions its predominance through findings that it coexisted with several other predators and prey.