Voay Temporal range: Late Pleistocene,
Divergence estimates suggest Oligocene origin
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Skull, American Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
Clade: | Archosauriformes |
Order: | Crocodilia |
Family: | Crocodylidae |
Subfamily: | Crocodylinae |
Genus: | †Voay Brochu, 2007 |
Type species | |
†Voay robustus (Grandidier & Vaillant, 1872)
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Synonyms | |
Crocodylus robustus Grandidier & Vaillant, 1872 |
Voay is an extinct genus of crocodile from Madagascar that lived during the Late Pleistocene to Holocene, containing only one species, V. robustus. Numerous subfossils have been found, including complete skulls, noted for their distinctive pair of horns on the posterior, as well as vertebrae and osteoderms from such places as Ambolisatra and Antsirabe. The genus is thought to have become extinct relatively recently. It has been suggested to have disappeared in the extinction event that wiped out much of the endemic megafauna on Madagascar, such as the elephant bird and Malagasy hippo, following the arrival of humans to Madagascar around 2000 years ago.[2] Its name comes from the Malagasy word for crocodile.
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