Gavialimimus (meaning "gharial mimic") is an extinct genus of mosasaur that lived in Morocco during the Late Cretaceous. The type and only species is named G. almaghribensis.
Description[]
Although the teeth of the holotype specimen indicated to closely resemble those of ‘Platecarpus’ ptychodon, suggesting referral to this species, some paleontologists have re-examine and ultimately reject the fundamental validity of ‘P.’ ptychodon due to the non-diagnostic nature of its holotype and original diagnosis. The fossil instead designate the new specimen as the holotype of a new genus and species, Gavialimimus almaghribensis, gen. et sp. nov. G. almaghribensis is characterized by a highly elongate snout, highly retracted nares and large supratemporal fenestrae, among other features.
Phylogenetic analysis under multiple parsimony-based methods reveals novel substructure within the subfamily Plioplatecarpinae, consistently recovering a clade uniting the new species with Selmasaurus and the enigmatic Goronyosaurus. Synapomorphies of this clade include a highly constricted parietal, with Selmasaurus and Gavialimimus being further united by a broadly excavated medial surface of the quadrate suprastapedial process. The cranial morphology of G. almaghribensis also provides new insight into several aspects of mosasaur evolution and comparative anatomy, including adaptive radiation and niche partitioning in Moroccan marine paleoecosystems. [1]
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