Gavialis is a
genus of
crocodylians that includes the living
gharialGavialis gangeticus and one known extinct species, Gavialis bengawanicus.[1]G. gangeticus comes from the
Indian Subcontinent,[2] 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.[3]
^Delfino, M.; De Vos, J. (2010). "A revision of the Dubois crocodylians, Gavialis bengawanicus and Crocodylus ossifragus, from the Pleistocene Homo erectus beds of Java". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (2): 427.
Bibcode:
2010JVPal..30..427D.
doi:
10.1080/02724631003617910.
S2CID86396515.
^Swinton, W. E. (1937). "The crocodile of Maransart (Dollosuchus dixoni [Owen])". Mémoires du Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique. 80: 1–44.