GAVIALIDAE GONIOPHOLIDAE 453 



lying in two tiers, twenty below and twenty above, with a foot 

 of sand between. The young ran with amazing rapidity the 

 moment they were hatched. Some of them actually bit his 

 lingers before he had time to remove the shell from their bodies ! 

 The length of these new-born creatures was 15 to 16 inches, 

 9 of which belonged to the long and slender tail. 



Several fossil species have been described from the Pliocene 

 deposits of the Sivalik Hills of India ; and in the same district 

 occurred the closely allied Rhamphosuchus crassidens, which 

 reached the gigantic length of about 50 feet ! 



Tomistoma. The general configuration of 'the skull and snout 

 is that of Gavialis, but the nasal bones are long and reach the 

 premaxillaries, although not the nasal groove, thereby separating 

 the maxillaries. The first and fourth mandibular teeth fit into 

 notches of the upper jaw, while most of the others fit into pits 

 between the teeth of the upper jaw. About twenty upper and 

 eighteen lower teeth on each side. 



T. schlegeli, the only species, reaches a length of 1 5 feet ; 

 it inhabits the rivers and swamps of Borneo, Malacca, and 

 Sumatra. Fossil specimens of Tomistoma have been found in 

 the Miocene of Malta and Sardinia. Gavialosuchus of the 

 Miocene of Hungary is closely allied. 



Fam. 5. Atoposauridae. The few members of this family, 

 Atoposaurus, Alligatorium, and Alligatorellus, lived in the Upper 

 Oolitic period of France, and were small, about one foot in length. 

 The vertebrae are amphicoelous. The nasal groove is divided 

 by a prolongation of the nasal bones. The head is short, and in 

 its general shape rather like that of a lizard. 



Fam. 6. Goniopholidae, in the Purbeck and Wealden of 

 Europe and the corresponding level of North America. The 

 vertebrae are amphicoelous. The choanae are still elongated 

 but are situated between the palatines and pterygoids. The 

 premaxillaries are rather large, and each sends a broad triangular 

 process between the nasal and maxillary. The nasals are broad 

 and are well separated from the nasal groove. The splenials 

 help to form the mandibular symphysis. 



Goniopholis. The general configuration of the skull is rather 

 like that of Crocodilus vulyaris. There 'is a pair of deep notches 

 in the upper jaw for the reception of the lower canine teeth. G. 

 simus and G. crassidens in England and continental Europe, and 



