What is the difference between an alligator and a gharial

Fact: Gharials Are Solitary Animals. Image Courtesy- sushil kumudini chikane. Crocodiles can walk on land using their limbs. Gharials use their belly to slide on land and are much slower than crocodiles. However, in water bodies, the gharials are swift swimmers, much faster than crocodiles. Gharials are bigger than freshwater crocodiles but smaller than saltwater crocs. Besides, their snout makes them much longer as well. Gharials, especially the females, have a bulbous structure at the tip of its nose.

This structure is absent in crocodiles. Having stated the difference between the two, it is also worth taking note of the fact that gharials were once thought to be getting extinct. However, their recent spottings are making wildlife experts contemplate whether the species is having a possible comeback. The long, thin snouts of gharials have about teeth, with on the lower jaw and on the upper. The teeth at the front of the jaw are the largest since they are designed for grasping.

Alligators have a wider upper jaw that overlaps the lower, and when the reptile closes its mouth, the teeth in the lower jaw fit perfectly in the sockets or depressions of the upper jaw. The lower and upper jaws of crocodiles are about the same width, and the teeth fit along the margin. When a crocodile closes its mouth, the upper teeth interlock with the lower. Gharials and crocodiles differ from alligators in that they have salt glands on their tongue in the form of modified salivary glands.

Although alligators do have the same structures, they have become obsolete and can no longer secrete salt. The salt glands make crocodiles and gharials more tolerant of saline water and can, and are therefore able to spend more time in the open ocean. Crocodiles have the ability to migrate across wide bodies of water, which explains their wide distribution.

Additionally, saltwater crocodiles can live for extended periods along the coast and venture into the ocean in search of food. But there is variation in the extent to which different bones compose certain structures.

Fortunately, there are some external characteristics of the head that allow members of the three Families to be distinguished. Alligatorids tend to have broad snouts, which are often referred to as being "shovel-shaped".

The upper jaw is so broad that when the jaws are closed many of the teeth of the lower jaw fit into sockets along the edge of the expanded upper jaw. In all crocodilians the 4th tooth back from the front, on the lower jaw, is greatly enlarged. In the alligators and caimans, this tooth fits into a socket in the upper jaw when the jaws are closed, such that its tip is hidden. There are seven extant alligatorid species, divided amongst four genera Alligator, Caiman, Melanosuchus, Paleosuchus.

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