gharial

Hindi ghara is a round earthenware water pot — the same vessel used to carry water in rural India for centuries. The male Gavialis gangeticus develops a bulbous nasal protrusion with age — the ghara — which amplifies vocalizations and is used in mating displays. The Indian naturalists who named the animal's feature saw the water pot's shape in the bull's nose.

The gharial is perhaps the most specialized crocodilian: its long, narrow snout — studded with interlocking teeth — is perfectly designed for catching fish. Unlike the broad-snouted Nile crocodile or the saltwater crocodile, the gharial cannot bite or hold large prey. It catches fish sideways and swallows them whole. The design that makes it an extraordinary fish predator makes it helpless against larger prey.

The species was widespread throughout the rivers of the Indian subcontinent — the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, the Indus — in the 19th century. By the 1970s, habitat destruction, sand mining, hunting for skin and traditional medicine had reduced the population to fewer than 200 adults. An intensive captive breeding program begun in 1975 raised numbers to around 900 by 2017, still Critically Endangered.

The ghara swells on the male gharial as it ages — young males have no protrusion; old bulls have enormous bulbous noses. The gharial's age can be roughly estimated from its nose. The feature that named the animal is also a biological clock, growing throughout the male's life, recording the years in cartilage.