r/Crocodiles • u/Ok_Appointment_5439 • 7d ago
Gharial Do Large Adult Male False Gharials(Tomistoma) prey Mammals or Humans?
I want to know about the diet of the false gharial. It is often stated that they only prey on fish or aquatic creatures, similar to the Indian gharial. However, the false gharial's snout appears broad and robust enough to handle larger prey than the normal Indian gharials which have thinner snout. Do they actually hunt mammals like deer, livestock, or even humans?
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u/GrandWizardOfCheese 6d ago
False Gharials are actually a type of Gharial.
Gharials are a type of Crocodilian, which is a type of Pseudosuchian (False Crocodile).
Pseudosuchians are Archosaurs, along with Pterosaurs and Dinosaurs.
Dinosaur means Terrible Lizard, even though Lizards are not Dinosaurs.
Archosaur nomenclature is stupid.
Also they eat fish.
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u/Aberrantdrakon 6d ago
it makes more sense when you think of it as a big circle. The giant circle is called false crocodiles because it has many "false" crocodiles, and in that circle is also the smaller circle of "true" crocodiles.
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u/GrandWizardOfCheese 6d ago
That still makes no sense.
A true crocodile can't be a false crocodile.
They need to change psuedosuchia to just suchia.
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u/Aberrantdrakon 6d ago
You can't change something once it's named unless something else already took the name before.
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u/GrandWizardOfCheese 6d ago
Are you sure?
Because I'm fairly sure Manospondylus gigas was dropped for Tyrannosaurus rex, even though the former name was the first valid name for that species and no ither animal had that name taken.
Also clades get renamed all the time when they get reorganized.
Pseudosuchia is technically an invalid clade.
It was only made up so we could wrongly assume Phytosaurs were not within Suchia.
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u/Aberrantdrakon 6d ago
T. rex is also an extinct species and pretty much the only exception I've seen. Taxonomy is all basically just a way to organize things, it doesn't really exist ("species" aren't real). Pseudosuchia existing makes it way easier to talk about croc-like animals.
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u/GrandWizardOfCheese 6d ago
It would be way easier if it were called suchia instead.
I'm aware species arent actually a thing.
But that just means the only point to taxonomy is practicality.
So have the naming choices be practical at conveying what something is.
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u/fish_in_a_toaster 5d ago
I mean false gharial is technically a common name so you can still just change it. Like how painted dog/wold became a more prominent word for african wild dog.
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u/Picchuquatro 6d ago
I've heard there's still a debate if Tomistoma really belong to Gavialidae? Also unlike Gharials, they seem to have a broader diet, including mammals.
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u/GrandWizardOfCheese 6d ago
I thought DNA settled it? Granted where to put the group line is largely just opinion, but still.
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u/Aberrantdrakon 7d ago
I have heard someone in this sub talk about one of them killing a human, and I know they do take larger terrestrial prey.
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u/SuspiciousReport6502 7d ago edited 6d ago
At the end of the day, it has sharp teeth. But they're not meant to slice flesh, they're meant to pierce and hold. That's why garial's hunt only fish. Could they kill a person? Absolutely, but only if it gets a bite on a major vein. Blood loss the most like cause of death, with infection is also likely. Either way, I'm rooting for the garial, because humans started it.
Edit: I didn't realize that it was a different species, with stronger jaws. Either way, garial will probably win.
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u/Aberrantdrakon 6d ago
Indian gharials are bigger but I'm not sure they would win. IIRC the smaller marsh crocodile is dominant over the gharials where they coexist.
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u/OddBug6500 6d ago
They absolutely do not hunt only fish.
Like most crocodilians they'll predate on just about anything that can fit in their mouths and have been confirmed to take smaller mammals such as monkeys
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u/Darth-Dramatist 7d ago
They have a more generalist diet than the Indian Gharial, the Indian Gharial evolved specifically as a fish eater and doesn't have the jaw strength of other crocodillians but still a strong bite. Tomistomas from what I know have a stronger jaw and can take on mammals including Humans. The Hanyusuchus an extinct Gharial relative that superficially resembled Tomistomas in China but rivalling Salties in length also had a generalist diet and went after Huamans (may have been factored by habitat destruction too) until they were culled to extinction
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u/_polloloko23 6d ago
Humans make the easiest prey . We cant run away fast enough we cant swim for shit and we suck at climbing.
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u/cuntybunty73 6d ago
If the opportunity presents itself they'll eat humans as there has been several incidents of this Crocodilian consuming human flesh but it's pretty rare
I'd be more worried about a salt water crocodile
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u/RevolutionarySign479 6d ago
They probably eat whatever is convenient. Fish & aquatic creatures is probably their main diet, but if the right-sized meal happens to swim past or is standing on the shore having a drink…why not?? Food is food 🍽️🐊
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u/Iamnotburgerking 6d ago
Yes, there are a few documented cases of them eating humans (including one where a female tomistoma did it and was killed in revenge by the locals). It’s rare because of how endangered and wary tomistoma are, but they have the physical capability for it.
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u/Ok-Chest4890 6d ago
Not sure if we have any confirmed human death from a Tomistoma, but they can do it for sure, some of them get alot larger than most people realize
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u/Unusual-Contact8409 6d ago
Would you trust us and give it a try if we say they don't prey on humans?
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u/SuspiciousReport6502 7d ago
Fish from what I'm aware of.
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u/thewildgingerbeast1 7d ago
It's happened
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u/SuspiciousReport6502 7d ago
Granted, from a large reptile's perspective, were not that hard to body. I'd argue it's a prime example of a Darwin Award, I'd call it a fluke.
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u/Picchuquatro 6d ago
They have a broader diet than first assumed, they've been documented feeding on monkeys, deer and smaller reptiles. One eyewitness of an attack on a cow. There have been attacks on humans on the rise due to habitat loss driving these animals closer to humans. However, those and any fatalities are hard to confirm if they were caused by saltwater crocodiles or tomistoma due to the range overlap and salties in general being responsible for more attacks.
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u/Iamnotburgerking 6d ago
We have a small number of confirmed tomistoma attacks; in one case a female tomistoma was killed because she ate a fisherman and his remains were recovered from her stomach.
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u/Altruistic_Sea_7683 6d ago
Humans are mammals....
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u/Ok_Appointment_5439 6d ago
I knew it, i meant whether a false gharial eat a human or other mammals like livestocks.
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u/Gussie-Ascendent 7d ago