A male and female gharial lying in the shallow waters of River Chambal photographed by Shivang Mehta. The male is noticably larger than the female with a more robust snout tipped by a big lump, the ghara. The female lying next to it is smaller with more slender, unadorned jaws
A close up of a male gharial with a prominent bulbous ghara, bearing a lumpy surface and being somewhat swept back. The animal has its head resting on the grassy shore. You can claerly see the interlocking teeth and elevated eyes as well as some spiked osteoderms on the neck. Photo again by Shivang Mehta
Theres an interesting etymological web going on. Like I mentioned the term ghadiala apparently derives from ghara, which is the name of the soft tissue structure seen in adult male gharials named after a type of pot. But obviously the ghara is also the root for the term gharial as a whole
#gharial