Ложный гавиал: описание и особенности вида.

Species of crocodilian
Speciesbox
| name = False gharial
| fossil range = Late Pleistocene Recent,
| image = Tomistoma schlegelii fg01. JPG
| image caption = Captive false gharial in Berlin Zoo, Germany
| status = EN
| status system = IUCN3.1
| status ref =
| status2 = CITES A1
| status2 system = CITES
| status2 ref =

The false gharial is dark reddish brown above with dark brown or black spots and cross bands on the back and tail. Ventrals are grayish white, with some lateral dark mottling. Juveniles are mottled with black on the sides of the jaws, body, and tail. The smooth and unornamented snout is extremely long and slender, parallel sided, with a length of 3.0 to 3.5 times the width at the base. All teeth are long and needle like, interlocking on the insides of the jaws, and are individually socketed. The dorsal scales are broad at midbody and extend onto the sides of the body. The digits are webbed at the base. Integumentary sensory organs are present on the head and body scalation. Scales behind the head are frequently a slightly enlarged single pair. Some individuals bear a number of adjoining small keeled scales. Scalation is divided medially by soft granular skin. Three transverse rows of two enlarged nuchal scales are continuous with the dorsal scales, which consist of 22 transverse rows of six to eight scales, are broad at midbody and extend onto the sides of the body. Nuchal and dorsal rows equals a total of 22 to 23 rows. It has 18 double crested caudal whorls and 17 single crested caudal whorls. The flanks have one or two longitudinal rows of six to eight very enlarged scales on each side. The false gharial has one of the slimmest snouts of any living crocodilian, comparable to that of the slender snouted crocodile and the freshwater crocodile in slenderness; only that of the gharial is noticeably slimmer. Three mature males kept in captivity measured and weighed , while a female measured and weighed Females are up to long. Males can grow up to in length and weigh up to The false gharial apparently has the largest skull of any extant crocodilian, in part because of the great length of the slender snout. Out of the eight longest crocodilian skulls from existing species that could be found in museums around the world, six of these belonged to false gharials. The longest crocodilian skull belonging to an extant species was of this species and measured in length, with a mandibular length of Most of the owners of these enormous skulls had no confirmed (or even anecdotal) total measurements for the animals, but based on the known skull to total length ratio for the species they would measure approximately in length. Three individuals ranging from in length and weighing from had a bite force of .

The false gharial is threatened by habitat loss in most of its range due to the drainage of freshwater swamps and conversion for commercial plantation of oil palms. Some population units in unprotected areas do not bear viable breeding adults.

The false gharial is listed on CITES Appendix I. Steps have been taken by the Malaysian and Indonesian governments to prevent its extinction in the wild. There are reports of some populations rebounding in Indonesia, yet with this slight recovery, mostly irrational fears of attacks have surfaced amongst the local human population.