Fossil Record 12(1): 13-21, doi: 10.1002/mmng.200800007
The late Pleistocene horned crocodile Voay robustus (Grandidier & Vaillant, 1872) from Madagascar in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
expand article infoC. Bickelmann‡, N. Klein§
‡ Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany§ Steinmann-Institut für Geologie, Mineralogie und Paläontologie, Universität Bonn, Nußallee 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany
© C. Bickelmann, N. Klein.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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Open Access
Abstract
Crocodylian material from late Pleistocene localities around Antsirabe, Madagascar, stored in the collection of the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, was surveyed. Several skeletal elements, including skull bones, vertebrae, ribs, osteoderms, and limb bones from at least three large individuals could be unambiguously assigned to the genus Voay Brochu, 2007. Furthermore, the simultaneous occurrence of Voay robustus Grandidier & Vaillant, 1872 and Crocodylus niloticus Laurenti, 1768 in Madagascar is discussed. Voay robustus and Crocodylus niloticus are systematically separate but similar in stature and size, which would make them direct rivals for ecological resources. Our hypothesis on the extinction of the species Voay, which was endemic to Madagascar, suggests that C. niloticus invaded Madagascar only after V. robustus became extinct.

doi:10.1002/mmng.200800007