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Description
During a dry season 5 million years ago in the late Pliocene epoch of Queensland, Australia, the drying of most nearby water sources has made one of the last few remaining billabongs a magnet for the local wildlife. Flocks of Pelecanus cadimurka, an extinct species of pelican in the same genus as extant ones, gather at the drying billabong as the fish trapped inside become easier to catch. The presence of water and the animals attracted to it also lure in the large carnivores, like a huge 6-meter long Quinkana babarra, a terrestrial mekosuchine crocodile that chases prey like large marsupials on land rather than ambush from the water. The land croc takes a drink from the water, but is surprised by an even larger crocodilian as it does so. The 7-meter long tomistomine crocodilian Gunggamarandu maunala is an aquatic predator feeding mainly on fish and smaller terrestrial prey, but will also opportunistically take on bigger game, and its own distant relative is now fighting it for survival.

Drawing inspired by a rather recent fossil discovery. This was actually already described around a month ago but for some reason there doesn't seem to be much artwork of it. Quite a fragmentary animal, Gunggamarandu is only known from a fragment of the skull, but this fragment suggests the full skull was around 80 centimeters long and the entire animal may have measured 7 meters long, making it possibly the largest crocodilian to have ever lived in Australia. Some of the largest known saltwater crocodiles were of similar size, though these were exceptionally large individuals and most salties don't get this big. The skull piece was found in the Darling Downs area of Queensland and its exact age is uncertain but estimated to be 5 to 2 million years old, so sometime from the Pliocene to the earliest Pleistocene. So no, it didn't coexist with the more famous Australian megafauna like Procoptodon, Thylacoleo or Varanus priscus (Megalania) (and most certainly didn't meet early aboriginal people) and was a bit older than these. Gunggamarandu is believed to belong to the Tomistominae subfamily of the Gavialidae family, making its closest living relative the false gharial of southeast Asia. While the gharial preys almost exclusively on fish, the false gharial has a more varied diet despite its similarly narrow snout and is known to prey on monkeys, livestock and even human remains have been found inside them, so Gunggamarandu may have been quite a vicious threat to the megafauna it lived alongside.

The genus Quinkana were terrestrial crocodilians that pursued prey on land unlike extant crocodiles, and the best known species of the genus is Q. fortirostrum from the Pleistocene. However, around 4 species have been assigned to the genus ranging in age from the Oligocene to the late Pleistocene, though some specimens are quite fragmentary and I think some don't really belong to this genus. Size estimates of Quinkana are also greatly variable depending on the source, ranging from 2 to even 9 meters long, though that 9-meter one seems quite exaggerated and I'm pretty skeptical about it. Most of the Pleistocene specimens were probably around 3 meters long, though it seems a fragmentary Pliocene specimen was exceptionally large at around 6 meters long. Most Pliocene specimens of the genus are assigned to the species Q. babarra, so perhaps this species was bigger than the Pleistocene one that did coexist with Megalania, Thylacoleo and early aborigines.

Also added the pelicans, Pelecanus cadimurka, mostly for some atmosphere or whatever. Thought that in a dry season, large flocks of these piscivores would gather at whatever water sources were left and eat the fish trapped inside. Can't find much information on this very obscure species, but it was probably quite similar on extant pelicans so I based them on Australian pelicans. This species is actually known from the Lake Eyre basin of South Australia instead of Queensland, but when you can fly and one of the few remaining billabongs is there why not head over there? Its range could've been wider than one spot anyways. First Pelecanus cadimurka on DA btw.

Description
During a dry season 5 million years ago in the late Pliocene epoch of Queensland, Australia, the drying of most nearby water sources has made one of the last few remaining billabongs a magnet for the local wildlife. Flocks of Pelecanus cadimurka, an extinct species of pelican in the same genus as extant ones, gather at the drying billabong as the fish trapped inside become easier to catch. The presence of water and the animals attracted to it also lure in the large carnivores, like a huge 6-meter long Quinkana babarra, a terrestrial mekosuchine crocodile that chases prey like large marsupials on land rather than ambush from the water. The land croc takes a drink from the water, but is surprised by an even larger crocodilian as it does so. The 7-meter long tomistomine crocodilian Gunggamarandu maunala is an aquatic predator feeding mainly on fish and smaller terrestrial prey, but will also opportunistically take on bigger game, and its own distant relative is now fighting it for survival.

Drawing inspired by a rather recent fossil discovery. This was actually already described around a month ago but for some reason there doesn't seem to be much artwork of it. Quite a fragmentary animal, Gunggamarandu is only known from a fragment of the skull, but this fragment suggests the full skull was around 80 centimeters long and the entire animal may have measured 7 meters long, making it possibly the largest crocodilian to have ever lived in Australia. Some of the largest known saltwater crocodiles were of similar size, though these were exceptionally large individuals and most salties don't get this big. The skull piece was found in the Darling Downs area of Queensland and its exact age is uncertain but estimated to be 5 to 2 million years old, so sometime from the Pliocene to the earliest Pleistocene. So no, it didn't coexist with the more famous Australian megafauna like Procoptodon, Thylacoleo or Varanus priscus (Megalania) (and most certainly didn't meet early aboriginal people) and was a bit older than these. Gunggamarandu is believed to belong to the Tomistominae subfamily of the Gavialidae family, making its closest living relative the false gharial of southeast Asia. While the gharial preys almost exclusively on fish, the false gharial has a more varied diet despite its similarly narrow snout and is known to prey on monkeys, livestock and even human remains have been found inside them, so Gunggamarandu may have been quite a vicious threat to the megafauna it lived alongside.

The genus Quinkana were terrestrial crocodilians that pursued prey on land unlike extant crocodiles, and the best known species of the genus is Q. fortirostrum from the Pleistocene. However, around 4 species have been assigned to the genus ranging in age from the Oligocene to the late Pleistocene, though some specimens are quite fragmentary and I think some don't really belong to this genus. Size estimates of Quinkana are also greatly variable depending on the source, ranging from 2 to even 9 meters long, though that 9-meter one seems quite exaggerated and I'm pretty skeptical about it. Most of the Pleistocene specimens were probably around 3 meters long, though it seems a fragmentary Pliocene specimen was exceptionally large at around 6 meters long. Most Pliocene specimens of the genus are assigned to the species Q. babarra, so perhaps this species was bigger than the Pleistocene one that did coexist with Megalania, Thylacoleo and early aborigines.

Also added the pelicans, Pelecanus cadimurka, mostly for some atmosphere or whatever. Thought that in a dry season, large flocks of these piscivores would gather at whatever water sources were left and eat the fish trapped inside. Can't find much information on this very obscure species, but it was probably quite similar on extant pelicans so I based them on Australian pelicans. This species is actually known from the Lake Eyre basin of South Australia instead of Queensland, but when you can fly and one of the few remaining billabongs is there why not head over there? Its range could've been wider than one spot anyways. First Pelecanus cadimurka on DA btw.