Which statement accurately describes the gharial's behavior?

Which statement accurately describes the gharial's behavior?

• A. It spends most of its time on land.
• B. It hunts in trees.
• C. It roams extensively on land and air.
• D. It spends most of its time in water and rarely walks on land.

Answer: (D)

Gharials are highly aquatic reptiles that spend the vast majority of their time in river water. Their long, slender snout and paddle-like limbs are specialized for swimming and catching fish underwater, not for moving around on land or up in trees. They do come onto shore briefly for nesting, but this is infrequent compared with their time spent in water. That makes the statement describing them as spending most of their time in water and rarely walking on land the best fit. The other ideas don’t match their lifestyle: they aren’t primarily land-dwellers, they don’t hunt in trees, and they don’t roam extensively in air.

Gharials are highly aquatic reptiles that spend the vast majority of their time in river water. Their long, slender snout and paddle-like limbs are specialized for swimming and catching fish underwater, not for moving around on land or up in trees. They do come onto shore briefly for nesting, but this is infrequent compared with their time spent in water. That makes the statement describing them as spending most of their time in water and rarely walking on land the best fit. The other ideas don’t match their lifestyle: they aren’t primarily land-dwellers, they don’t hunt in trees, and they don’t roam extensively in air.