''Gavialis'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of crocodylians that includes the living gharial ''Gavialis gangeticus'' and one known extinct species, '' Gavialis bengawanicus.'' ''G. gangeticus'' comes from the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, while ''G. bengawanicus'' is known from

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

. ''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 The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

. Remains attributed to ''Gavialis'' have also been found on

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

and Woodlark Island east of the

Wallace Line The Wallace Line or Wallace's Line is a faunal boundary line drawn in 1859 by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace and named by the English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley. It separates the biogeographic realms of Asia and 'Wallacea', a ...

, suggesting a prehistoric lineage of ''Gavialis'' was able to traverse marine environments and reach places possibly as far as western

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

. The genus ''Gavialis'' was reevaluated in 2018 based on specimens in the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

that were collected in the Sivalik Hills. The author concluded that ''G. gangeticus'' and '' G. bengawanicus'' are the only two species in the genus ''Gavialis'', with '' G. hysudricus'' as a junior synonym of ''G. gangeticus.'' '' Rhamphosuchus'' is proposed to include '' G. leptodus'', '' G. pachyrhynchus'', '' G. curvirostris'' and '' G. breviceps''. The species '' G. browni'' and '' G. lewisi'' require further revisions. ''G. dixoni'' has been assigned its own genus, '' Dollosuchus.'' In 2025, ''G. pachyrhynchus'' and its junior synonym ''G. breviceps'' were included within the genus '' Rhamphosuchus'' as a new combination ''R. pachyrhynchus'', while ''G. curvirostris'' was assigned to its own genus, '' Pseudogavialis''. The below

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...

of the major

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

crocodile groups is based on the latest molecular studies, and shows the gharial's close relationship to the false gharial, and how the gavialids and crocodiles are more closely related than the alligatoroids: Here is a more detailed cladogram that shows ''Gavialis's'' proposed placement within Gavialidae, including

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

members:

References

Gavialidae Extant Burdigalian first appearances Reptile genera Reptile genera with one living species {{archosaur-stub