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Glite Dictionary
Gavialidae

Gavialidae

9.9
A group of large animals like crocodiles with long, thin snouts that eat fish and live in Asian rivers
  • noun
  • /ˌɡæv.iˈɑː.lɪ.deɪ/
  • Specialized
: Gavialidae
  • Unlike other crocodilians, Gavialidae have slender snouts suited for catching fish.

Examples

  • The Gavialidae family includes only a few surviving species such as the gharial.

  • The Gavialidae family includes the gharial and the false gharial.

  • Researchers are studying the evolutionary history of Gavialidae in river systems.

  • Did you know that Gavialidae are primarily found in river systems?

  • The Gavialidae family includes the gharial, which is known for its unique long snout.

  • Many species of Gavialidae are adapted to live in freshwater habitats across Asia.

  • Conservationists are focused on protecting the Gavialidae due to their declining populations.

Surface Forms

Gavialidae singular
Gavialidaes plural
Gavialidae plural

Morphology

Gavialidae = gavial (opaque) = gavial + idae

The form is a Latinized scientific family name: '-idae' marks a biological family and is specialist knowledge, so knowing 'gavial' alone will not allow a general learner to infer 'Gavialidae'.

Etymology

The word Gavialidae comes from the Indian name gharial, a river crocodile with a very long thin snout. Gharial itself comes from the Hindi word ghara meaning 'pot' because male gharials have a pot-like bump on their nose, and the ending -idae marks an animal family, so Gavialidae means the family of these long-snouted crocodiles.