False gharial
Tomistoma schlegelii
-2.45, 111.62
Field Notes
Description:
Measuring about 3m, brown in colour with dark spots and cross-bands on the back and tail, ventrals are grayish-white, with some lateral dark mottling, it has a long and slender snout.
Habitat:
Spotted at Tanjung Puting National Park - Kalimantan, Borneo - Indonesia, the False gharial is a freshwater crocodilian native to Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra and Java, apart from rivers, they inhabit swamps and lakes.
I took this pic from the boat but unfortunately it hided under the water before I could take a more decent picture.
Notes:
In addition to fish and smaller water animals it also prey on larger vertebrates, including proboscis monkeys, long-tailed macaques, deer, water birds, and reptiles.
The specific name schlegelii honors the German herpetologist Hermann Schlegel and is also known as Malayan gharial, Sunda gharial and Tomistoma.
It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as the global population is estimated at fewer than 2,500 mature individuals.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Crocodilia
Family: Gavialidae[2]
Subfamily: Tomistominae
Genus: Tomistoma
Müller, 1846
Species: T. schlegelii
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