#australosuchus

This one, this one has been a journey. After over a year of work across 11 pages, I can finally say that Mekosuchinae is now updated in accordance with the latest science.

This meant updating and expanding pages for all the 10 known genera (Kambara, Australosuchus, Kalthifrons, Baru, Paludirex, Quinkana, Ultrastenos, Trilophosuchus, Volia and Mekosuchus) as well as using all that information and putting it onto the family page (see the screenshots above for the before and after comparisson).

Obviously my work is far from done, I know of at least four papers all currently in the works either expanding on some of these concepts or describing entirely new stuff, but I'll get to those once the time comes. Until then I'm free to tackle other projects.

I'll try to make a proper summary of that information here on Tumblr eventually, as mekosuchines are a fascinating group even beyond the myths and misconceptions that surround members of the family (no, Mekosuchus was not a tree climbing animal according to current science).

Obviously screenshots are low res, so here's an actual link to the page

I should also mention that, in addition to just expanding in general, I took the liberty of replacing the old main image with some artwork of my own. The reason for that being that previously the image only featured Quinkana, a notably derived an unusual member, whereas the image now attempts to feature a broader selection of mekosuchines to really highlight how diverse they were.

Wikipedia links in lieu of propaganda. Alkwertatherium, a cenozoic diprotodontid marsupial

Anamolocaris, a cambrian radiodont arthropod

Arandaspis, an ordivician jawless fish

Arcadia, a triassic temnospondyl amphibian

Australosuchus, a cenozoic crocodile

Australotitan, a cretaceous sauropod dinosaur

Australovenator, a cretaceous megaraptoran dinosaur

Austrosaurus, a cretaceous sauropod dinosaur

A comparably brief one this time, but this is Australosuchus. Australosuchus is yet another mekosuchine from the Oligocene to Miocene, roughly contemporary with "Baru" huberi from last time. At around 3 meters long, its a medium-sized animal with a more or less generalist semi-aquatic bauplan known from plentiful remains all found in South Australia. And I do mean plentiful. We not only have many parts of the body, but plenty of specimens too.

Regarding its anatomy there's just one thing I wanna highlight which is the occlusal pit for the fourth dentary tooth. If you look at crocodile skulls, you'll often notice how the snout sorta constricts fairly early on. This is because the fourth tooth of the lower jaw neatly slides into this region. However, in Australosuchus this is less a notch or constriction, but a full on hole in the skull thats almost entirely enclosed. I just think thats neat.

Little is written about its biology, safe for one really fascinating thing. It's range. When looking at the fossil locality where the remains of this croc were found, you'll notice that it appears to be the only crocodilian around. By contrast, if you were to go to any locality in the north, like the famous Riversleigh WHA, you'll find a multitude of mekosuchine species of all shapes and sizes....yet no Australosuchus. For some time, it was suggested that there was simply a geographic barrier, a dessert perhaps. That the species in the north just couldn't reach the Lake Eyre Basin. But finds from Pwerte Marnte Marnte have shown that the northern forms, like Baru wickeni, were in fact present in the basin. So why not further south? Well, Adam Yates suggests that latitude was the deciding factor. Yates argues that the species from the north like Baru were unable to handle the climate of southern Australia, which is why although present in the basin, Baru is not found anywhere below the 27° South. However, Australosuchus, which may have been more cold resistant (like modern alligators) was capable of surviving the lower temperatures, thus being the only crocodilian found in these southern waters during the Late Oligocene and Miocene. The whole thing is illustrated by Yates too for those who want a visual aid.