Tomistoma

Tomistoma is a genus of gavialid crocodilians. They are noted for their long narrow snouts used to catch fish, similar to the gharial. Tomistoma contains one extant (living) member, the false gharial, as well as potentially several extinct species: T. cairense, T. lusitanicum and T. coppensi. Previously assigned extinct species known from fossils are reclassified as different genera such as Eogavialis, Toyotamaphimeia and Sutekhsuchus.

Tomistoma

Junkyardsparkle · CC0 · 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
false gharialPBDB
Sits inside
TomistominaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Crocodylia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia

Time the record covers

At least 40 million years on record.

The record covers at least 41.03 Mya to 774 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 48.07 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 5 of 32 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 2 of 32 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 15 of 32 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 8 of 32 occurrencesPleistocene — about 2 of 32 occurrences49–47 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences47–46 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences42–41 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences41–39 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences39–38 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences34–33 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences33–31 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences28–26 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 2 occurrences18–16 Mya — about 2 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 2 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 1 occurrence11–9.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.8–8.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.2–6.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences6.5–4.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.9–3.3 Mya — about 4 occurrences3.3–1.6 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.6–0 Mya — about 1 occurrence41.03 Mya774 ka49 Mya0 Mya

32 occurrences of Tomistoma 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

32 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

15 formations

Nkondo — 1.50°N, 31.00°EWarwire — 1.50°N, 31.00°ELagos-Portimão — 37.08°N, 8.28°WLagos-Portimão — 37.11°N, 8.69°WHarudi — 23.65°N, 68.68°ETurkana Grit — 2.33°N, 35.83°EBakate — 4.27°N, 36.60°EBirket Qarun — 29.27°N, 30.20°ENkondo/Warwire — 1.50°N, 31.00°EHohwa Beds — 1.50°N, 31.00°ECalcarenites of Sant Elm — 39.92°N, 3.06°EScripps — 32.83°N, 117.12°WPińczów Limestone — 50.52°N, 20.53°ECalcari di Cagliari — 39.23°N, 9.11°EMokattam — 30.02°N, 31.30°EJebel Qatrani — 29.64°N, 30.58°E

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The named rock units Tomistoma has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 12 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Tomistoma and its relatives

Miocene

Where Tomistoma and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

321 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 32 sites for Tomistoma, 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

24 references

Each of the 32 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. 12 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 content2

Picture of Tomistoma

Credit
Junkyardsparkle
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

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

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were 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 itTomistominae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Müller 1846