Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) Fact Sheet: Taxonomy & History

Taxonomy

• Gavialidae:
  • G. gangeticus probably the only living species in the Family.
  • Fossil and morphological data on Tomistoma schlegelii (false gharial) show closest resemblance to Crocodylidae. But recent molecular data show closer resemblance to G. gangeticus, causing some authors to place it in the Gavialidae (Brochu, 2003).

Nomenclature

• "Gharial" originates from the Hindi word "ghara" which is a clay pot with a long neck, much like the snout shape of an adult male gharial.
• Sometimes referred to as "gavial" which is probably a misspelling of gharial. The Family and Genus names have not been changed to reflect this error.
• "gangeticus" means "of the Ganges (River)."
• Other common names: long-nosed crocodile, gaviel du Ganges (Fr.), Schnabelkrokodil (Gr.), Sansar (Pakistan), Chimpta (Nepal).

Synonyms

• Originally described as Lacerta gangetica

• The Order Crocodylia, which includes all living crocodilians, originated around 100 million years ago (mid-Cretaceous). (St. John et al. 2012)
• Crocodylians and birds are the only living representative of the ancient group Archosauria, which included dinosaurs and pterosaurs (St. John et al. 2012)
• An early gharial-like fossil is known from Morocco's 60 million-year-old rocks (Hua & Jouve 2004).
• Although 12 fossil species have been found in India, South America, Africa, and Europe, only one species survives today.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia (Laurenti, 1768) - reptiles

Order: Crocolidia - crocodilians

Family: Gavialidae (Adams, 1854) - gharials, gavials

Genus: Gavialis (Oppel, 1811) - gharial, gavials

Species: Gavialis gangeticus (Gemlin, 1789) -  gharial, gavial

Source: Integrated Taxnomic Information System (2017)

The gharial's species name, gangeticus, refers to the Ganges River, which flows through India and Bangladesh.

Gharials share river habitat with Ganges River Dolphin, a dozen species of turtles, and smooth-coated otters.

Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.

Brochu (2003)
Gatesy & Amato (1992)
Grenard (1991)
Hua & Jouve (2004)
King & Burke (1989)
St. John et al. (2012)