Head to head
Gharial vs Saltwater Crocodile
The gharial is a crocodilian, but it is not a crocodile in the strict sense and it lives a very different life. Where a saltwater crocodile is a broad-jawed generalist that eats almost anything and is one of the most dangerous animals to humans on Earth, the gharial is a specialist fish-eater with jaws too slender to take large prey. One is thriving; the other is one of the rarest large reptiles alive.
| Gharial | Saltwater Crocodile | |
|---|---|---|
| Group | A gharial, family Gavialidae | A true crocodile, family Crocodylidae |
| Snout | Very long and needle-thin, with a bulbous tip (the ghara) on males | Broad, V-shaped, and heavily muscled |
| Diet | Almost entirely fish, plus some frogs and insects | Anything it can catch: fish, birds, monkeys, deer, buffalo, people |
| Size | Up to about 5 to 6 m, lightly built | Up to about 6 m, occasionally more, very heavily built |
| Bite | Fast but delicate; the teeth grip fish, they do not crush | Among the most powerful bites of any living animal |
| Danger to humans | Not regarded as dangerous; incidents are extremely rare | One of the most dangerous animals in its range |
| On land | Cannot raise its body to walk; slides on its belly | Can high-walk and even gallop for short bursts |
| Conservation | Critically Endangered, a few hundred breeding adults | Least Concern, recovered strongly since the 1970s |
Gharial vs Crocodile: common questions
Is a gharial a crocodile?
It is a crocodilian, the group that also contains crocodiles, alligators, and caimans, but it sits on its own branch, the family Gavialidae, and is not a crocodile in the narrow sense. The gharial's lineage split from the crocodiles and alligators tens of millions of years ago. Calling it a crocodile is a bit like calling a fox a wolf: same family gathering, different animal. Its closest living relative is the false gharial of Southeast Asia, which despite the name is more closely related to true crocodiles than to the gharial.
Why is the gharial's snout so thin?
It is a fishing tool. A long, narrow jaw has very low water resistance, so the gharial can whip its head sideways through the water far faster than a broad-snouted crocodile could, closing the gap on a fish before it can dart away. The many small, sharp, interlocking teeth then work like a cage to hold slippery prey. The trade-off is strength: the thin jaw would snap under the loads involved in seizing and drowning a large mammal, so the gharial is locked into a diet of fish and other small aquatic animals.
Which is bigger, a gharial or a saltwater crocodile?
They reach similar lengths, with large males of both species measuring around 5 to 6 metres, and there are historical claims of larger gharials. But the saltwater crocodile is far more massive for its length, a bulky, deep-bodied animal that can exceed a tonne, while the gharial is slender and comparatively lightweight. So the longest individuals may be close, but the saltwater crocodile is unquestionably the heavier and more powerful animal, and is the largest living reptile by weight.