Aldabrachampsus
Name:
Aldabrachampsus.
Phonetic: Al-dah-brak-champ-sus.
Named By: Christopher A. Brochu - 2006.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Crocodilia,
Crocodylidae.
Species: A. dilophus (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: About 2 to 2.5 meters long.
Known locations: Seychelles, Aldabra Atoll -
Aldabra Limestone Formation.
Time period: Pleistocene.
Fossil representation: Fragmentary remains.
Aldabrachampsus
was a fairly small crocodile
known to have been active around the
Seychelles in the Indian Ocean during the Pleistocene period. It is
believed that Aldabrachampsus came to Aldbara Atoll
by migration
because previously the atoll had been submerged for over one hundred
thousand years. A possible source could be either Madagascar or
Africa.
Because
the remains of Aldabrachampsus are so incomplete,
it is hard to say
how Aldabrachampsus was related to modern
crocodiles. Skull material
suggests however that Aldabrachampsus was what is
termed a ‘horned
crocodile’. Another horned crocodile genus that lived in Madagascar
during the Holocene is Voay.
Further reading
- A new miniature horned crocodile from the Quaternary of Aldabra
Atoll, western Indian Ocean - Christopher A. Brochu - 2006.
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