Pallimnarchus
Encyclopedia
Pallimnarchus is a genus
extinct mekosuchine crocodylian from the Pliocene
and Pleistocene
of Australia
. Remains of this animal have been found in the Riversleigh
lagerstätte
of northwestern Queensland
. It was medium-sized, up to 5 meters long. It had conical teeth with serrate carinae, and an extremely broad snout, features that probably allowed it to specialize in ambushing preys in shallow water.
compound word of Pan, Limnos and Archon, which together mean "ruler of all the swamps".
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
extinct mekosuchine crocodylian from the Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
and Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Remains of this animal have been found in the Riversleigh
Riversleigh
Riversleigh, in North West Queensland, is Australia's most famous fossil site. The 100 km² area has fossil remains of ancient mammals, birds and reptiles of Oligocene and Miocene age...
lagerstätte
Lagerstätte
A Lagerstätte is a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossil richness or completeness.Palaeontologists distinguish two kinds....
of northwestern Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. It was medium-sized, up to 5 meters long. It had conical teeth with serrate carinae, and an extremely broad snout, features that probably allowed it to specialize in ambushing preys in shallow water.
Etymology
The generic name, Pallimnarchus, is derived from a crasisCrasis
Crasis is a type of contraction in which two vowels or diphthongs merge into one new vowel or diphthong — making one word out of two. Crasis occurs in Portuguese and Arabic as well as in Ancient Greek, where it was first described.-French:...
compound word of Pan, Limnos and Archon, which together mean "ruler of all the swamps".