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Gharial

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Order: Crocodilia
Family: Gavialidae
Genus: Gavialis
Species: G. The conservation status of a Species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future Organisms with a conservation status of critically endangered have an extremely high risk of becoming extinct The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List) created in 1963 is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia are air-breathing Cold-blooded Vertebrates that have skin covered in scales as opposed to hair or feathers Crocodilia is an order of large Reptiles that appeared about 84 million years ago in the late Cretaceous Period ( Campanian stage Gavialidae is a family of Reptiles within the order Crocodilia. gangeticus
Binomial name
Gavialis gangeticus
(Gmelin, 1789)

The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), sometimes called the Indian gavial or gavial, is one of two surviving members of the family Gavialidae, a long-established group of crocodile-like reptiles with long, narrow jaws. Johann Friedrich Gmelin ( August 8, 1748 – November 1, 1804) was a German naturalist, Botanist and Year 1789 ( MDCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common In Biological classification, family ( Latin Gavialidae is a family of Reptiles within the order Crocodilia. A crocodile is any Species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the Subfamily Crocodylinae) Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia are air-breathing Cold-blooded Vertebrates that have skin covered in scales as opposed to hair or feathers The gharial is the second-longest of all living crocodilians, after the Saltwater Crocodile. Crocodilia is an order of large Reptiles that appeared about 84 million years ago in the late Cretaceous Period ( Campanian stage The saltwater or estuarine crocodile ( Crocodylus porosus) is the largest of all living Crocodilians and Reptiles It is found in suitable [1]

Contents

Ancestry

The fossil history of the Gavialoidea is quite well known, with the earliest examples diverging from the other crocodilians in the late Cretaceous. The Cretaceous (kriːˈteɪʃəs, usually abbreviated 'K' for its German translation "Kreide" is a geologic period and system, reaching from the end of The most distinctive feature of the group is the very long, narrow snout, which is an adaptation to a diet of small fish. Although gharials have sacrificed the great mechanical strength of the robust skull and jaw that most crocodiles and alligators have, and in consequence cannot prey on large creatures, the reduced weight and water resistance of their lighter skull and very narrow jaw gives gharials the ability to catch rapidly moving fish, using a side-to-side snapping motion.

The earliest Gharial may or may not have been related to the modern types: some died out at the same time as the dinosaurs (at the end of the Cretaceous), others survived until the early Eocene The modern forms appeared at much the same time, evolving in the estuaries and coastal waters of Africa, but crossing the Atlantic to reach South America as well. The Eocene epoch (558 ± 02 - 339 ± 01 Ma) is a major division of the Geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Palaeogene period in South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a At their peak, the Gavialoidea were numerous and diverse, they occupied much of Asia and America up until the Pliocene. The Pliocene epoch (spelled Pleiocene in some older texts is the period in the Geologic timescale that extends One species, Rhamphosuchus crassidens of India, are believed to have grown to an enormous 15 metres (~50 feet) or more. Rhamphosuchus ("Beak crocodile" is an extinct relative of the modern Gharial and false gharial

Distribution

Northern Indian subcontinent: Bhutan (almost extinct), Bangladesh (close to extinction), India (present in small numbers and increasing), Myanmar (possibly extinct), Nepal (unknown), Pakistan (close to extinction). ( Bengali: বাংলাদেশ inc-Latn Bangladesh) officially Usually found in the river systems of Indus (Pakistan) and the Brahmaputra (Bangladesh, Bhutan & North eastern India), the Ganges (Bangladesh, India & Nepal), and the Mahanadi (in the rainforest biome)(India), with small numbers in Kaladan and the Ayeyarwady River in Myanmar. The Indus River { Sanskrit: सिन्धु Sindhu; Urdu: urd {{Nastaliq سندھ}} Sindh; Sindhi: snd The Brahmaputra, also called Tsangpo-Brahmaputra is a Trans-boundary river and one of the major Rivers of Asia. The Ganges (ˈgænʤiːz also Ganga, Devanāgarī: hi गंगा in most Indian languages) is the major river in the Indian subcontinent The Mahanadi rises in the highlands ofChhattisgarh It flows through Orissa to reachthe Bay of Bengal Rainforests are Forests characterized by high Rainfall with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm (68-78 inches The Ayeyarwady River or Irrawaddy River ( is a River that flows from north to south of Burma (Myanmar It is sympatric, in respective areas, with the Mugger Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) and the Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). The mugger crocodile ( Crocodylus palustris) (literally "crocodile of the Marsh " also called the Iranian, marsh, muggar The saltwater or estuarine crocodile ( Crocodylus porosus) is the largest of all living Crocodilians and Reptiles It is found in suitable

Habitat

Gharial lurking.
Gharial lurking.

Riverine - most adapted to the calmer areas in the deep fast moving rivers. The physical attributes of the gharial do not make it very suited for moving about on land. In fact the only reasons the gharial leaves the water is either to bask in the sun or to nest on the sandbanks of the rivers.

Appearance

Side Shot
Side Shot

Characteristic elongated, narrow snout, similar only to the closely related False gharial, (Tomistoma schlegelii). The false gharial, also known as the Malayan gharial or false gavial, ( Tomistoma schlegelii) is a fresh-water Reptile, resembling a Crocodile The snout shape varies with the age of the saurian. The snout becomes progressively thinner the older the gharial gets. The bulbous growth on the tip of the male's snout is called a 'ghara' (after the Indian word meaning 'pot'), present in mature individuals. The bulbous growth is used for various activities, it is used to generate a resonant hum during vocalization, it acts as a visual lure for attracting females and it is also used to make bubbles which have been associated with the mating rituals of the species.

Male Gharial at the San Diego Zoo
Male Gharial at the San Diego Zoo
Close-up of the male's ghara.
Close-up of the male's ghara.

The elongated jaws are lined with many interlocking, razor-sharp teeth - an adaptation to the diet (predominantly fish in adults). This species is one of the largest of all crocodilian species, being the only crocodile besides the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) with multiple records of attaining a length of 6 m (20 feet), although a majority of gharials do not grow past 5 m (16. The saltwater or estuarine crocodile ( Crocodylus porosus) is the largest of all living Crocodilians and Reptiles It is found in suitable 5 feet) and about 680 kg (1500 lb). [2] The three largest examples reported were a 6. 5 m (21. 5 ft) gharial was killed in the Gogra River of Faizabad in August 1920; a 6. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> For the Faizabad in Tajikistan see Faizabad Tajikistan. 3 m (21 ft) individual shot in the Cheko River of Jalpaigur in 1934; and a giant taped at 7 m (23 ft) which was shot in the Kosi River of northern Bihar in January 1924. Jalpaiguri is the largest district of North Bengal, covering an area 6245 sq Bihar ( Hindi:बिहार Urdu: بہار bɪhaːr) is a state in eastern India. [3] The leg musculature of the gharial is not suited to enable the animal to raise the body off the ground (on land) in order to achieve the high-walk gait - being able only to push its body forward across the ground ('belly-sliding'), although it can do this with some speed when required. However, when in water, the gharial is the most nimble and quick of all the crocodiles in the world. The tail seems overdeveloped and is laterally flattened, more so than other crocodiles, this enables it to achieve the excellent water locomotive abilities.

The gharial has 27 to 29 upper and 25 or 26 lower teeth on each side. These teeth are not received into interdental pits; the first, second, and third mandibular teeth fit into notches in the upper jaw. The front teeth are the largest. The gharial's snout is narrow and long, with a dilation at the end and its nasal bones are comparatively short and are widely separated from the pre-maxillaries. The nasal opening of a gharial is smaller than the supra-temporal fossae. The gharial's lower anterior margin of orbit (jugal) is raised and its mandibular symphysis is extremely long, extending to the 23rd or 24th tooth. A symphysis is a fibrocartilaginous fusion between two bones It is a type of Cartilaginous joint. A dorsal shield is formed from four longitudinal series of juxtaposed, keeled and bony scutes. [4]

The length of the snout is 3. 5 (in adults) to 5. 5 times (in young) the breadth of the snout's base. Nuchal and dorsal scutes form a single continuous shield composed of 21 or 22 transverse series. Gharials have an outer row of soft, smooth or feebly-keeled scutes in addition to the bony dorsal scutes. They also have two small post-occipital scutes.

The outer toes of a gharial are two-thirds webbed, while the middle toe is one-third webbed. Gharials have a strong crest on the outer edge of the forearm, leg and foot. Typically, adult gharials are of a dark olive hue while young ones are pale olive, with dark brown spots or cross-bands. [4]

Diet

Young gharials eat insects, larvae, and small frogs. Mature adults feed almost solely on fish, although some individuals have been known to scavenge dead animals. Their snout morphology is ideally suited for piscivory; their long, narrow snouts afford very little resistance to water in swiping motions to snap up fish in the water. A Piscivore is a carnivorous animal which lives on eating Fish. Their numerous needle-like teeth are perfect for holding on to struggling, slippery fish.

Danger to humans

The Gharial is not a man-eater. Despite its immense size, its thin, fragile jaws make it physically incapable of devouring any large animal, including a human being. The myth that gharials eat humans may come partly from their similar appearance to Crocodiles and because jewelry has been found in their stomachs. A crocodile is any Species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the Subfamily Crocodylinae) However, the gharial may have swallowed this jewelry while scavenging corpses or as gastroliths used to aid digestion or buoyancy management. Gastroliths (' Stomach stones' or ' Gizzard stones' are rocks, which are or have been held inside the digestive tract of an animal

Breeding

The mating season is during November through December and well into January. The nesting and laying of eggs takes place in the dry season of March, April, and May. This is because during the dry season the rivers shrink a bit and the sandy river banks are available for nesting. Between 30 and 50 eggs are deposited into the hole that the female digs up before it is covered over carefully. After about 90 days, the juveniles emerge, although there is no record of the female assisting the juveniles into the water after they hatch (probably because their jaws are not suited for carrying the young due to the needle like teeth). However the mother does protect the young in the water for a few days till they learn to fend for themselves.

Conservation

In the 1970s the gharial came to the brink of extinction and even now remains on the critically endangered list. The conservation efforts of the environmentalists in cooperation with several governments has led to some reduction in the threat of extinction. Some hope lies with the conservation and management programs in place as of 2004. Full protection was granted in the 1970s in the hope of reducing poaching losses, although these measures were slow to be implemented at first. Now there are 9 protected areas for this species in India which are linked to both captive breeding and 'ranching' operations where eggs collected from the wild are raised in captivity (to reduce mortality due to natural predators) and then released back into the wild (the first being released in 1981). More than 3000 animals have been released through these programs, and the wild population in India is estimated at around 1500 animals - with perhaps between one and two hundred animals in the remainder of its range. The release of captive gharials has not met with the success that was expected. Recently more than 100 gharials died in India in the Chambal River due to unknown causes. This recent death toll is expected to have decreased the number of breeding pairs to less than 400. Tests of the carcasses conducted at the IVRI suggest have suggested the possibility of poisoning by metal pollutants.

Recently this species has moved from Endangered to Critically Endangered on the 2007 Red List of endangered species of animals and plants issued by the World Conservation Union, and qualifies for protection under the CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) Appendix II. CITES (the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments drafted [5][6]

Taxonomy

The gharial and its extinct relatives are grouped together by taxonomists in several different ways:

Janke et al. (2005), using molecular genetic evidence, found the gharial and the false gharial (Tomistoma) to be close relatives, and placed them together in the same family. The false gharial, also known as the Malayan gharial or false gavial, ( Tomistoma schlegelii) is a fresh-water Reptile, resembling a Crocodile

Common names include: Indian gharial, Indian gavial, Fish-eating crocodile, Gavial del Ganges, Gavial du Gange, Long-nosed crocodile, Bahsoolia, Nakar, Chimpta, Lamthora, Mecho Kumhir, Naka, Nakar, Shormon, Thantia, Thondre, Garial.

Classification

Appearances in Popular Culture

References

  1. ^ Crocodilian species - Gharial
  2. ^ http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-crocodile.html
  3. ^ Wood, The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. Sterling Pub Co Inc (1983), ISBN 978-0851122359
  4. ^ a b Boulenger, G. A. 1890. Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia.
  5. ^ Choudhury, B.C., Singh, L.A.K., Rao, R.J., Basu, D., Sharma, R.K., Hussain, S.A., Andrews, H.V., Whitaker, N., Whitaker, R., Lenin, J., Maskey, T., Cadi, A., Rashid, S.M.A., Choudhury, A.A., Dahal, B., Win Ko Ko, U., Thorbjarnarson, J & Ross, J.P. 2007. Gavialis gangeticus. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>>.
  6. ^ “At 200, gharials now on critically-endangered list” by Neelam Raaj , TNN, The Times of India, 13 Sep 2007

See also

External links

Dictionary

gharial

-noun

  1. gavial
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