Jun 19, 2006

Design Flaw?

I don't get these crocodiles. They have big bodies, but then these small heads with long, narrow snouts. Don't get me wrong, I understand the purpose of those teeth, just not the basic design. Why the narrow head? Oh well, they still serve my purposes. Ugly, ugly, ugly.

Thanks for the photo,
Clay.

UPDATE: A reader has since identified this as a gharial. Thanks for the help.

2ND UPDATE: This has been reIDed as a
False Gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii). Thanks, Swintah!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's not a crocodile. It's a Gharial. Related to crocodiles, but not too similar. The log fangy snout is cause they're fish eaters and need length and piercing power more than muscly maws for holding prey.

Raging Wombat said...

Wow, thanks for the ID! Now I can hunt down some even better pictures of these beasts.

Anonymous said...

This is a False Gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii), which is closely related to the Gharial.

Understandable mistake.

And still ugly.