Gavialis gangeticus

The gharial, also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians. Mature females are 2.6 to 4.5 m long, and males 3 to 6 m. Adult males have a distinct boss at the end of the snout, which resembles an earthenware pot known as a ghara, hence the name "gharial". The gharial is well adapted to catching fish because of its long, narrow snout and 110 sharp, interlocking teeth.

Gavialis gangeticus

Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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
GharialPBDB
Sits inside
GavialisPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Crocodylia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
marinePBDB, for Mesoeucrocodylia

Time the record covers

At least 2.4 million years on record.

The record covers at least 2.58 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 3.6 Mya to 0 Mya.

Pliocene — about 6 of 11 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 5 of 11 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 11 occurrences3.7–3.6 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences3.6–3.4 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences3.4–3.3 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences3.1–3.0 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences3.0–2.9 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences2.7–2.6 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences2.6–2.5 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.3–2.2 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.2–2.0 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.0–1.9 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.6–1.5 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.5–1.4 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.2–1.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.1–957 ka Mya — about 0.3 occurrences957 ka–820 ka Mya — about 0.3 occurrences820 ka–683 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences683 ka–547 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences547 ka–410 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences410 ka–273 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences273 ka–137 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences137 ka–0 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.58 Mya129 ka4.1 Mya0 Mya

11 occurrences of Gavialis gangeticus on record. 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

11 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

3 formations

Pinjor — 30.77°N, 76.86°EPinjor — 30.33°N, 77.11°EPinjor — 28.82°N, 79.09°EPinjor — 30.73°N, 76.78°ETatrot — 30.68°N, 77.00°E

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The named rock units Gavialis gangeticus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 4 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

60 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 9 sites for Gavialis gangeticus, 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

3 references

Each of the 11 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. 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 content3

Picture of Gavialis gangeticus

Credit
Charles J. Sharp
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Gavialis gangeticus · UF:Herp:118998

3D model

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

Smithsonian Open Access was 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 itGavialis through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gmelin 1789