gharial crocodile, the singing, bubble-blowing croc
While cruising through the more recent lists of critically endangered critters I came across the Gharial, which basically looks like a crocodile that someone decided to mess with in photoshop and stretch out every which way.
The Gharial crocodile is a fish-eating croc famous for it's long and skinny snoot:
If that weren't funny enough the males develop a large and fleshy growth on the end of their nose that gets bigger as they get more mature:
This exaggerated structure "is used for various activities, it is used to generate a resonant hum during vocalization, it acts as a visual lure for attracting females and it is also used to make bubbles which have been associated with the mating rituals of the species." Sexy!
Those snouts get thinner as they get older, and though they might look like the stuff of nightmares those jaws are made for sneaking up on quick fish, and are too fragile to eat people. Nevertheless they get up to 6 meters in length, making them one of the largest crocs besides the saltwater croc.
Source!
The Gharial crocodile is a fish-eating croc famous for it's long and skinny snoot:
If that weren't funny enough the males develop a large and fleshy growth on the end of their nose that gets bigger as they get more mature:
This exaggerated structure "is used for various activities, it is used to generate a resonant hum during vocalization, it acts as a visual lure for attracting females and it is also used to make bubbles which have been associated with the mating rituals of the species." Sexy!
Those snouts get thinner as they get older, and though they might look like the stuff of nightmares those jaws are made for sneaking up on quick fish, and are too fragile to eat people. Nevertheless they get up to 6 meters in length, making them one of the largest crocs besides the saltwater croc.
Source!