Volia

Volia is an extinct 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.

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

Volia
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene – Early Holocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Crocodilia
Clade: †Mekosuchinae
Genus: †Volia
Molnar, Worthy & Willis, 2002
Species:
†V. athollandersoni
Binomial name
†Volia athollandersoni
Molnar, Worthy & Willis, 2002

Fossils of V. 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]

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

A 2018 tip dating study by Lee & Yates simultaneously using morphological, molecular (DNA sequencing), and stratigraphic (fossil age) data established the inter-relationships within Crocodilia,[4] which was expanded upon in 2021 by Hekkala et al. using paleogenomics by extracting DNA from the extinct Voay.[5]

The below cladogram from the latest studies 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:AEPEMC]2.0.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.
  5. Hekkala, E.; Gatesy, J.; Narechania, A.; Meredith, R.; Russello, M.; Aardema, M. L.; Jensen, E.; Montanari, S.; Brochu, C.; Norell, M.; Amato, G. (2021-04-27). "Paleogenomics illuminates the evolutionary history of the extinct Holocene "horned" crocodile of Madagascar, Voay robustus". Communications Biology. 4 (1): 505. doi:10.1038/s42003-021-02017-0. ISSN 2399-3642. PMC 8079395. PMID 33907305.
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