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Gavialis gangeticus (GMELIN, 1789)

IUCN Red List - Gavialis gangeticus - Critically Endangered, CR
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Higher TaxaGavialidae, Crocodylia, (crocodiles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Gharial
G: Gangesgavial 
SynonymLacerta gangetica GMELIN in LINNAEUS 1789: 1057
Crocodilus gavial BONNATERRE 1789: 34
Crocodylus gangeticus — MEYER 1795: 20
Crocodilus longirostris SCHNEIDER 1801: 160
Crocodilus arctirostris DAUDIN 1802: 393 (nom. subst.)
Crocodilus tenuirostris CUVIER 1807: 66
Rkamphostoma [sic] tenuirostre — WAGLER 1830: 141 (fide D & B 1836)
Gavialis gangeticus — GRAY 1831: 56
Gavialis gangeticus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1836: 134
Gavialis gangeticus — WERMUTH & MERTENS 1977: 150
Gavialis gangeticus — KING & BURKE 1989 
DistributionBangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar (= Burma), N India (Madhya Pradesh etc), Nepal, Pakistan

Type locality: Senegal and Ganges; restricted to Ganges River by Wermuth (1953: 504)  
Reproductionoviparous. Exhibits temperature‐dependent sex determination (TSD) fide Cornejo-Páramo et al. 2020 (and references therein). 
TypesHolotype: unlocated (KING& BURKE 1989: 14) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Gharials are easily recognized by their unique long and narrow snouts with 27 to 29 upper teeth and 25 or 26 lower teeth on each side. All teeth of similar size, except rear 8-10 and front 2-3 pairs (compared to other crocodiles which have teeth of heterogeneous size).


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CommentExtremely threatened; there may be only a few hundred specimens in the wild (Reptilia, Münster, 11 (5): 7).

Similar species: only Tomistoma schlegelii, but with non-oerlapping range.

Type species: Lacerta gangetica GMELIN in LINNAEUS 1789: 1057 is the type species of the genus Gavialis OPPEL 1811, the type genus of the family Gavialidae Adams 1854: 20. The preferred citation for the order name of crocodilians, by analogy with Article 40.2 of the Code relating to family-group names, is Crocodylia Deraniyagala, 1939 (1830) (fide Savage 2017).

Literature: for an extensive collection of literature on gharials see Tarun Nair’s website at https://sites.google.com/view/gharial-library/library (see also under links below). 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality. 
References
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