Gavialis

Gavialis is a genus of crocodilians that includes the living gharial Gavialis gangeticus and one known extinct species, Gavialis bengawanicus. G. gangeticus comes from the Indian subcontinent, while G. bengawanicus is known from Java. Gavialis likely first appeared in the Indian Subcontinent in the Pliocene and dispersed into the Malay Archipelago through a path called the Siva–Malayan route in the Quaternary. Remains attributed to Gavialis have also been found on Sulawesi and Woodlark Island east of the Wallace Line, suggesting a prehistoric lineage of Gavialis was able to traverse marine environments and reach places possibly as far as western Oceania.

Gavialis

Bo Link from Knoxville, TN, USA · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
gharialPBDB
Sits inside
GavialidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Crocodylia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia

Time the record covers

At least 15 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 20.45 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 18 of 44 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 8 of 44 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 17 of 44 occurrencesPleistocene21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences17–17 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences15–15 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 1 occurrence11–10 Mya — about 2 occurrences10–9.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.8–9.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.1–8.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.4–7.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.7–7.0 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.0–6.3 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences6.3–5.6 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences5.6–4.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.2–3.5 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences3.5–2.8 Mya — about 6 occurrences2.8–2.1 Mya — about 5 occurrences2.1–1.4 Mya — about 5 occurrences1.4–698 ka Mya — about 5 occurrences698 ka–0 Mya — about 4 occurrences15.98 Mya129 ka20.9 Mya0 Mya

44 occurrences of Gavialis on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

44 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

12 formations

Pinjor — 30.77°N, 76.86°EPinjor — 30.33°N, 77.11°EPinjor — 28.82°N, 79.09°EDhok Pathan — 33.03°N, 72.47°EDhok Pathan — 32.83°N, 73.30°EDhok Pathan — 32.33°N, 73.88°EIrrawaddy — 20.13°N, 94.89°EIrrawaddy — 20.17°N, 94.92°EPinjor — 30.73°N, 76.78°EPiram Conglomerate — 21.60°N, 72.36°EBabladanga — 23.50°N, 87.00°EAgha Jari — 34.48°N, 44.63°EMoghara — 30.38°N, 28.82°EWalane — 4.38°S, 119.96°ESiwaliks — 32.83°N, 73.22°EGaj — 26.87°N, 67.32°ETatrot — 30.68°N, 77.00°E

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The named rock units Gavialis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 20 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Gavialis and its relatives

Miocene

Where Gavialis and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

346 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 38 sites for Gavialis, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

18 references

Each of the 44 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 6 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Gavialis

Credit
Bo Link from Knoxville, TN, USA
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Gavialis gangeticus · UF:Herp:118998

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itGavialidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Oppel 1811