Volia

Volia is an extinct monospecific genus of mekosuchine crocodylians from Fiji named in 2002.[1] It was around 2–3 metres (7–10 ft) long. Notwithstanding its comparatively small size, it was probably the apex predator of the Pleistocene ecosystems of Fiji. Fossils of Volia athollandersoni, the type and currently only known species, have been found in the Voli-Voli and Wainibuku Caves of Viti Levu Island. The holotype is housed in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[2] V. athollandersoni and the other large reptiles of Fiji may have been exterminated by human hunting soon after Fiji was colonized by ancient Polynesians.[1]

For the Ukrainian political party with the same name, see Volia (party).

Volia
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene – Early Holocene
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Crocodilia
Clade: †Mekosuchinae
Genus: †Volia
Molnar, Worthy & Willis, 2002
Type species
†Volia athollandersoni
Molnar, Worthy & Willis, 2002

Etyomology

V. athollandersoni is named after the New Zealand archaeologist Atholl Anderson.[3]

Phylogeny

A 2018 tip dating study by Lee & Yates simultaneously using morphological, molecular (DNA sequencing), and stratigraphic (fossil age) data established the inter-relationships within Crocodylia.[4] The cladogram below shows the placement of Volia within Mekosuchinae:[4]

Crocodylia

Alligatoroidea

Prodiplocynodon†

Asiatosuchus†

"Crocodylus" affinis†

"Crocodylus" depressifrons†

"Crocodylus" acer†

Brachyuranochampsa†

Mekosuchinae

Australosuchus†

Kambara taraina†

Kambara implexidens†

Kambara murgonensis†

Kalthifrons†

‘Pallimnarchus’†

Baru wickeni†

Baru darrowi†

Baru Alcoota†

Bullock Creek taxon†

Baru huberi†

Volia†

Mekosuchus†

Trilophosuchus†

Quinkana†

Longirostres
Crocodyloidea

"Crocodylus" megarhinus†

Crocodylidae

Gavialoidea

extinct basal Gavialoids†

Gavialidae

Gavialis

Tomistoma

References
  1. Molnar, R.E.; Worthy, T.; Willis, P.M.A. 2002: An extinct Pleistocene endemic mekosuchine crocodylian from Fiji. Journal of vertebrate paleontology, 22: 612–628. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0612:AEPEMC2.0.CO;2]
  2. "Volia athollandersoni; holotype". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  3. Leach, Foss (2008). "Atholl John Anderson: No ordinary archaeologist". In Leach, Foss (ed.). Islands of Inquiry: Colonisation, seafaring and the archaeology of maritime landscapes. Vol. 29. Canberra: ANU Press. p. 7. ISBN 9781921313905. JSTOR j.ctt24h8gp.3 – via JSTOR.
  4. Michael S. Y. Lee; Adam M. Yates (27 June 2018). "Tip-dating and homoplasy: reconciling the shallow molecular divergences of modern gharials with their long fossil". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 285 (1881). doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.1071. PMC 6030529. PMID 30051855.
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