False gharial Tomistoma schlegelii
A true crocodile... or a gharial after all?
All about the characteristics and origins of the false gharial.
The false gharial in a nutshell
- eats
- fish
- inhabits
- parts of Asia
- excels at
- surviving
‘Tomistoma’, the genus name for the gharial, originally comes from Greek and means ‘sharp mouth’. Just like a true gharial, the false gharial has a long and narrow snout that is not suitable for killing large, strong prey. It therefore mainly eats fish.
True or false?
Scientists are unsure whether the false gharial belongs to the same family as the gharials or the crocodiles. DNA testing that uses the immune system to determine the relatedness of animals shows that the false gharial may actually be a true gharial. Fossil research, on the other hand, indicates that the false gharial is more likely to be related to the crocodiles. A global consensus is yet to be reached.
Living fossil
The false gharial is the only surviving species within the genus Tomistoma. All of the other species we know about, occurring in different parts of Africa and Asia, are extinct. The genus is ancient and dates back to the Eocene, around 50 million years ago.
