| Piscogavialis Temporal range: Miocene |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | Crocodylomorpha |
| Order: | Crocodylia |
| Family: | Gavialidae |
| Subfamily: | †Gryposuchinae |
| Genus: | †Piscogavialis Kraus, 1998 |
| Species | |
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Piscogavialis is an extinct genus of gryposuchine gavialid crocodylian. The only species yet known is P. jugaliperforatus. Fossils of Piscogavialis have been found from the Mio-Pliocene Pisco Formation of the Sacaco Basin in southern Peru. It is the first reptile known from the formation, which is otherwise notable for its high diversity of fossil vertebrates.[1]
Piscogavialis is known only from a single specimen, but it represents some of the best preserved gavialid material known from South America. The skull is preserved in three dimensions and is nearly complete. A mandible and some postcranial material have also been found in association with the skull. Several important features of the occipital region of the skull support a referral to the family Gavialidae, which also includes the extant gharial and false gharial.
The strata from which remains of Piscogavialis have been found suggest that it lived in a coastal environment.[1][2] Another extinct gavialid, Siquisiquesuchus, is also known to have lived in a coastal setting.[3] The presence of other gryposuchines in coastal strata may be an indication that all members of the subfamily inhabited coastal environments.[4][5] However, some gryposuchines have been found from localities that clearly represent non-marine environments.[6]