452 



CROCODILIA 



CHAP. 



bones are very short, and are separated from the preinaxillaries 

 by the long suture of the inaxillaries. About twenty-eight upper 

 and twenty-five lower teeth on each side. 



G. gangeticus, the only recent species, is essentially Indian, 

 inhabiting chiefly the basins of the Gauges, Brahmaputra, 

 and Indus ; it occurs also in the Mahanadi of Orissa and in 



Arakan, but does not live in the 

 Irrawaddy, nor in the Narbada, Kistna, 

 and farther south. In spite of its 

 great size, which reaches 20 feet or 

 even more, it is harmless, and lives 

 entirely upon fish ; hence its Hindus- 

 tani name, gharial, meaning fish-eater, 

 of which the generic name is a corrup- 

 tion. 



The nuchal and dorsal scutes form 

 a continuous shield, but there are two 

 small postoccipital scutes. General 

 colour, dark olive -brown above ; the 

 young are paler, with dark markings. 

 The male is remarkable for several 

 peculiarities. The nose is very much 

 swollen, and can be inflated like a bag 

 when the nostrils are closed. In con- 

 nexion herewith, probably produced by 

 the recoil of the air in the long narial 

 passages towards the choanae or pos- 



FIG. 106. Skull of Ga nails yan- * 



geticus (the Gharial). x |. tenor nares, there is a pair ot hollow 

 /; frontal ; j, .jugai ; L, lac- globular swellings, in large specimens 



rymal ; Mand, mandible ; . , 



.I/.--, maxillary ; Art, nasal ; ol the Size OI a gOOSC S egg. The 



/',; parietal ;' /',,- pre.naxil- shell Q f thege globes ig f orme( i jjy t he 

 lary ; Pif, prefrontal ; Ptf, 



postfrontal ; <//. quadrato- dorsal wings of the palatine bones 

 above the floor of the choanae, and 



they extend forwards to the right and left of the ethmoid 

 almost to the vertical downward process of the prefrontals. 



Although the Gharial is common enough, we know next to 

 nothing about its habits, and in zoological gardens it is rather 

 rare. A. Anderson 1 has, however, made the following observa- 

 tions. Forty eggs were dug out of the sand, where they were 



1 P.Z.S. 1875, p. 2. 



