Investigations in South African Fossil L'rptilni cnnl A /i//i'li/i>ia. 99 



jugal and postorbital, passes upwards and forwards instead of 

 upwards and backwards as in EiipnrL-t>r/a and Ornithosuchus ; so 

 that the superior length of the opening is about equal to the inferior 

 length. 



The snout is characterized by the fact that the premaxilla does 

 not form an anterior border to the nostrils, these being quite 



FIG. 16. Top view of skull of S2>}ienosuchus acittus. < i. 

 (Slightly restored.) 



terminal. Further, there is no trace of a median suture dividing 

 them. The roof of the snout is formed by the paired nasals, which 

 are broken posteriorly. The extreme tip of the left nasal is missing, 

 but the bones were obviously pointed in front. The whole of the 

 posterior and lower borders of the nostril are formed by the pre- 

 maxilla, which sends back a process separating the forward portion 

 of the maxilla from the nasal. The nostril seems to have had an 

 upper prolongation between the nasal and premaxilla. The pre- 

 maxilla carries apparently three or four simple pointed teeth. In 



