It was around 2–3 metres (7–10 ft) long, making it the largest predatory animal on the island and subsequently most likely the apex predator of the Pleistocene ecosystems of Fiji.

Fossils of Volia athollandersoni, the type and currently only known species, have been found in the Voli-Voli and Wainibuku Caves of Viti Levu Island.

The remains were uncovered when paleontologist Trevor Worthy and archaeologist Atholl Anderson searched Viti Levu for potential fossil deposits in 1997 and 1998, specifically focusing on areas with limestone.

[1] Later research also discovered an additional osteoderm, tooth and a skull fragment on the island of Naigani,[2] but due to their fragmentary nature they could not be confidently referred to Volia.

The squamosal bone features a prominent sulcus that contributes to the supratemporal fenestrae, but lacks a specific process that is present in not only the closely related Mekosuchus and Trilophosuchus, but modern saltwater crocodiles too.

The lower jaw of Volia is notably shallower than in the closely related species of the genus Mekosuchus, in which the mandible expands greatly towards the back creating a large attachment area for the mandibular adductor muscles.

These include large conical teeth that are flexed somewhat inward, with an oval crosssection at their base that grows gradually more D-shaped towards the top of the crown due to the asymmetrical cutting edges, so called carinae.

[1] The size of Volia is not entirely understood, both due to the fragmentary nature of much of the material and the unclear age of many specimens, which may largely represent juveniles given the way the fossils disarticulated.

Molnar, Worthy and Willis attempted to determine the size of one particular individual by comparing a preserved femur with the same bone in a saltwater crocodile.

[1][6] In the years leading up to the description of Volia, studies have increasingly shown that the islands of the South Pacific were in part inhabited by small crocodilians of the family Mekosuchinae.

While mekosuchine research was in its early stages at the time, Molnar and colleagues note several features shared between them and Volia, tentatively suggesting that it was a close relative of Quinkana and Mekosuchus itself, with Trilophosuchus outside of this polytomy.

In a 2018 tip dating study, combining morphological, molecular (DNA sequencing), and stratigraphic (fossil age) data, Lee and Yates recover slightly different results.

The most significant change compared to prior analysis was that this study found that Quinkana was not part of this grouping, instead clading with Baru and Paludirex.

[4] Evidence for this may be found in the anatomy of the distal ulnare, where a more hinge-like joint motion was possible, indicating it was better adapted at moving on land relative to the modern saltwater crocodile it was compared with.

However, it is likewise possible that this is simply the result of the examined material having belonged to a juvenile animal that hadn't yet fully developed this part of its anatomy.