Kalthifrons aurivellensis

Kalthifrons is an extinct monospecific genus of mekosuchine crocodylian known from the Pliocene Tirari Formation of Australia. More specifically, Kalthifrons was recovered from the Mampuwordu Sand Member, which underlies the younger sediments of the Pompapillina Member. This is significant, as the latter preserves some of the earliest records of the genus Crocodylus in Australia, which would eventually go on to replace mekosuchines. It is currently unclear whether or not the Tirari Crocodylus directly outcompeted Kalthifrons or simply moved into the region after the niche was left empty by the extinction of the local mekosuchines. Should the later be the case, then Kalthifrons may have simply been the victim of global cooling and aridification. A point in favour of the competition hypothesis is that both Kalthifrons and the Tirari Crocodylus have broadly similar skull forms, with both being interpreted as generalist semi-aquatic predators much like many of today's crocodiles. Though far from large, Kalthifrons was nonetheless bigger than many other mekosuchines such as Trilophosuchus and Mekosuchus. The genus is monotypic, meaning it contains only a single species, Kalthifrons aurivellensis.

Kalthifrons aurivellensis

Armin Reindl · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
KalthifronsPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Crocodylia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia

Time the record covers

At most 1.8 million years on record.

The one occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 5.333 Mya and 3.6 Mya, which is a dating window rather than a span.

Miocene — about 0 of 1 occurrencePliocene — about 1 of 1 occurrencePliocene5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.3–5.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.2–5.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.1–5.0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.0–4.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.9–4.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.8–4.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.7–4.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.6–4.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.6–4.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.5–4.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.4–4.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.3–4.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.2–4.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.1–4.0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.0–3.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.9–3.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.8–3.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.7–3.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.6–3.6 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.83 Mya3.1 Mya

1 occurrence of Kalthifrons aurivellensis on record, most of them in the Pliocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Tirari — 28.76°S, 138.41°E

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The named rock units Kalthifrons aurivellensis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Kalthifrons aurivellensis and its relatives

Pliocene

Where Kalthifrons aurivellensis and its relatives were recorded in the Pliocene.

Found in the same rock

1 taxon

The Paleobiology Database records 1 site for Kalthifrons aurivellensis, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

1 reference

Each of the 1 occurrence read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to doi.org. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Kalthifrons aurivellensis

Credit
Armin Reindl
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Kalthifrons aurivellensis was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itKalthifrons through timeFormations of the PlioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Yates and Pledge 2017