AnimalsThe gharial is a crocodile-like reptile with a very long, thin snout full of sharp teeth for catching fish. Adult males have a bulb on the tip of the snout, called a ghara after the pot it resembles. Most of the few that remain live in the Chambal river.
Quick facts
- Scientific name
- Gavialis gangeticus
- Group
- Reptiles
- Diet
- Carnivore (eats other animals)
- Lives in
- India and Nepal
- Habitat
- Clean, fast rivers with sandbanks
- A young one is called
- hatchling
- A group is called
- no special name
- Conservation status
- Critically Endangered
How it is classified
Scientists sort living things into groups within groups. Reading down, each step is a smaller group, ending with the species itself.
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Reptilia
- Order Crocodylia
- Family Gavialidae
- Genus Gavialis
- Species Gavialis gangeticus
More distant relatives in the order Crocodylia: mugger crocodile, saltwater crocodile.
Classification follows the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Other reference works arrange some groups differently. How classification works.
Is it in danger?
The gharial is listed as Critically Endangered. The species faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. This is the last category before "extinct in the wild".
This is the IUCN Red List category as recorded in Wikidata on 11 November 2026. The IUCN Red List itself is the authority and may carry a newer assessment. What the categories mean.