| Hesperogavialis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
| Clade: | Archosauriformes |
| Order: | Crocodilia |
| Family: | Gavialidae |
| Subfamily: | †Gryposuchinae |
| Genus: | †Hesperogavialis Bocquetin and Buffetaut, 1981 |
| Species | |
| |
Hesperogavialis is an extinct genus of gryposuchine gavialid. Fossils have been found from Venezuela and Brazil that date back to the Middle to Late Miocene.[1][2] Although Hesperogavialis is one of the best known gavialoids from South America, the posterior portion of the skull is still unknown, making any attempts at classification within the family somewhat more difficult than other gavialoids in which much of the skull is present. The genus possibly comprises three species. The type species, H. cruxenti, has been found in the Urumaco Formation in Venezuela. A second possible species, named H. bocquentini, has been described from the Solimões Formation in Acre, Brazil, and can be distinguished from H. cruxenti by the asymmetry seen in the anterior portion of the nasals and the small distance between alveoli. A third species can be recognized from the same locality in Acre, although a formal name has yet to be given to it.[3]
- ^ Bocquetin, J. C. and Buffetaut, E. (1981). Hesperogavialis cruxenti n. gen., n. sp., nouveau gavialide (Crocodylia, Eusuchia) du Miocène Supériur (Huayquerien) d'Urumaco (Venezuela). Geobios 14:415-419.
- ^ Souza-Filho, J. P., Bocquetin, J. C., and Negri, F. R. (1993). Um crâneo de Hesperogavialis sp. (Crocodylia, Gavialidae) Mioceno Superior — Plioceno do Estado do Acre, Brasil. Ameghiniana 30:341-342.
- ^ Souza-Filho, J. P. (1999). New crocodylian fossils (Alligatoridae and Gavialidae) from the Cenozoic, Acre State, Brazil. Ameghiniana 36(Supplement to Number 4)