| Gunggamarandu | |
|---|---|
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| Holotype cranium QMF14.548 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauria |
| Order: | Crocodilia |
| Superfamily: | Gavialoidea |
| Family: | Gavialidae |
| Subfamily: | Tomistominae |
| Genus: | †Gunggamarandu Ristevskiet al.,2021 |
| Species | |
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Gunggamarandu (meaning "river boss" inBarunggam andWakka Wakka) is anextinctmonospecificgenus oftomistominecrocodilian fromPliocene-Pleistocene aged deposits in theDarling Downs (possibly theRiversleighlagerstätte) ofAustralia.Gunggamarandu represents the first tomistomine known fromOceania and it is also the southernmost known tomistomine to date. Thetype, and only known, species isGunggamarandu maunala (meaning "head hole", after the Barunggam words for such), which wasdescribed by Jorgo Ristevskiet al. in 2021.[1]
Theholotype ofGunggamarandu, QMF14.548 (a partial cranium), was discovered no later than the 1870s, probably around 1875, and it was part of the "old collection" at theQueensland Museum inBrisbane[2] and QMF14.548 was later accessioned into the Queensland Museum collection on January 8, 1914. In 1995, Salisburyet al. suggested that QMF14.548 may have been agavialoid.[3] QMF14.548 was formally described in 2021 by Jorgo Ristevskiet al. and it was namedGunggamarandu maunala.[1] It was found in a layer of rock in theDarling Downs in Australia, which dates to thePliocene-Pleistocene ages, sometime around 5–2 million years ago.[4] The western Darling Downs is predominantly Pliocene, while the rest is mainly Pleistocene, but since it is unknown exactly where in the Darling Downs the holotype ofGunggamarandu was discovered, its exact age is unknown.
Upon describingGunggamarandu, Ristevskiet al. (2021) stated thatGunggamarandu was a large-sized animal. No size estimates were given, but they did estimate that the skull would have been at least 80 centimetres (2.6 ft) when complete.[1] Some sources outside of Ristevskiet al. (2021) estimate thatGunggamarandu may have grown up to 7 metres (23 ft) long when fully grown.[5]
Salisburyet al. (1995) classified the then unnamedGunggamarandu as a possiblegavialoid,[3] while Ristevskiet al. (2021), who formally named and described the animal, placedGunggamarandu into theTomistominae as thesister taxon toDollosuchoides,[1] although its precise position in the group is uncertain due to the scant nature of the holotype. The authors also foundGunggamarandumorphologically distinct from all other known Australiancrocodylians, thus by default makingGunggamarandu not referable toMekosuchinae or even closely related toCrocodylus.[1]
The results of the analysis can be shown in thecladogram below:
In theDarling Downs, where the holotype was discovered,[1]Gunggamarandu would have shared its habitat with a number of species, such as: several species ofbandicoots (Peramelidae), themarsupialsDiprotodon,Euryzygoma,Palorchestes andThylacoleo, and it may have competed in the same, or a similarecological niche, to themekosuchinecrocodylianPaludirex and possibly also an unnamed species ofZiphodont crocodile, which was the second found in the area in 150 years since around 1860.[6]
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