| Abstract: |
We describe a new species of crocodile (Reptilia: Crocodyloidea: Mekosuchinae) from a maxilla recovered at the Arapus archaeological site, on the island of Efate, Vanuatu, South Pacific. As with mekosuchine species in New Caledonia and Fiji, <i>Mekosuchus kalpokasi</i> sp. nov. was a small, possibly terrestrial carnivore that is now extinct. The differences between the Efate specimen and previously described species of <i>Mekosuchus</i> warrant recognition of a new species. Based on its association with Efates earliest known human inhabitants, dating approximately 3000 cal yr B.P., the extinction of <i>M. kalpokasi</i> and other insular mekosuchines may have been anthropogenic. The lack of adequately dated pre-Quaternary and Quaternary vertebrate fossil records from Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Fiji (as well as other smaller islands) precludes determining the timing and route of dispersal of mekosuchine crocodyloids.
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