Mekosuchus inexpectatus
Mekosuchus is a genus of extinct Australasian mekosuchine crocodilian. Species of Mekosuchus were generally small-sized, terrestrial animals with short, blunt-snouted heads and strong limbs. Four species are currently recognized, M. inexpectatus, M. whitehunterensis, M. sanderi and M. kalpokasi, all known primarily from fragmentary remains.
Ristevski, J.; Willis, P.M.A.; Yates, A.M.; White, M.A.; Hart, L.J.; Stein, M.D.; Price, G.J.; Salisbury, S.W. · CC BY 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
- MekosuchusPBDB
- Diet
- carnivorePBDB, for Crocodylia
- Motility
- actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
- Environment
- marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia
Time the record covers
At most 12 thousand years on record.
Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 11.7 ka and 0 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.
5 occurrences of Mekosuchus inexpectatus on record, most of them in the Holocene. 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
5 occurrences- Holocene100%
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.
Mekosuchus inexpectatus and its relatives
HoloceneWhere Mekosuchus inexpectatus and its relatives were recorded in the Holocene.
Found in the same rock
38 taxa- Sylviornis neocaledoniae5 sites
- Gallirallus lafresnayanus4 sites
- Megapodius molistructor3 sites
- Porphyrio kukwiedei3 sites
- Turnix varia novaecaledoniae3 sites
- Accipiter efficax2 sites
- Anas gracilis2 sites
- Caloenas canacorum2 sites
- Porphyrio melanotus2 sites
- Rhynochetos orarius2 sites
- Varanus2 sites
- Accipiter quartus1 site
- Aegotheles savesi1 site
- Aerodramus spodiopygius1 site
- Collocalia1 site
- Collocalia esculenta1 site
- Columba vitiensis1 site
- Drepanoptila holosericea1 site
- Eunymphicus cornutus1 site
- Falco peregrinus1 site
- Gallicolumba longitarsus1 site
- Gallinula tenebrosa1 site
- Gallirallus philippensis1 site
- Meiolaniidae1 site
The Paleobiology Database records 5 sites for Mekosuchus inexpectatus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.
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
2 references- Faunal extinction and human habitation in New Caledonia: initial results and implications of new research at the Pindai Caves3
- Mekosuchus inexpectatus, n. g., n. sp., Crocodilien nouveau de l'Holocene de Nouvelle Caledonie [Mekosuchus inexpectatus, n.g., n.sp., a new Holocene crocodilian from New Caledonia]2
Each of the 5 occurrences 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 the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.
Media and terms
Media content1
Picture of Mekosuchus inexpectatus
- Source
- Wikipedia/Commons
- Credit
- Ristevski, J.; Willis, P.M.A.; Yates, A.M.; White, M.A.; Hart, L.J.; Stein, M.D.; Price, G.J.; Salisbury, S.W.
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- Commercial use
- the licence allows it
No 3D scan of Mekosuchus inexpectatus 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
- Source
- Wikipedia, “Mekosuchus”
- 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 itMekosuchus through timeFormations of the HoloceneThe world it lived on
Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Balouet and Buffetaut 1987