120 BRITISH FOSSIL REPTILES. 



of at least equal dimensions, also from Shcppy, showing the angle of union of the rami 

 of tlie lower jaw which corresponds with that in the Crocodllus iolicqncus, PI. 2. 



In the museum of my esteemed and lamented friend, the late Frederic Dixon, Esq., 

 F.G.S., at Worthing, is preserved a portion of the fossilized skeleton of a Crocodile, from 

 the Eocene clay at Bognor, in Sussex ; it consists of a chain of eight vertebrae, including 

 the lumbar, sacral, and the biconvex first caudal, which are represented of their 

 natural size in tab. xv, of Mr. Dixon's beautiful and valuable work on the ' Geology of 

 Sussex.' A dorso-lateral bony scute adheres to the same mass of clay close to the 

 vertebrae, and doubtless belonged to the same individual. The proportions of the 

 vertebrae agree with those of the Crocodilus toliapicics. This fine specimen was dis- 

 covered, and presented to Mr. Dixon, by the Rev. John Austin, M.A., Rector of 

 Pulbrough, Sussex. Mr. Dixon had also obtained from the same locality a posterior 

 cervical vertebra of a Crocodile, similar in its general characters to those above 

 mentioned, but belonging to a larger individual. The length of the body of this 

 vertebra is two inches and a half. 



I have examined some remains of Crocodilia from the London Clay at Hackney; but as 

 these also are not sufficiently perfect or characteristic for decided specific determination, no 

 adequate advantage would be obtained by a particular description, or by figures of them. 



The chief conclusion arrived at from the study of the Crocodilian fossils from the 

 Island of Sheppy has been the proof, by the specimens selected for depiction in the 

 present work, that at least two species of true Crocodile have left their remains in 

 that locality ; that neither of these had a short and broad snout like the Caimans, but 

 that one of them — the Croc, champso'ides — much more nearly resembled the Gavial of 

 the Ganges in the proportion of that part of the skull ; although, in its composition, 

 especially as regards the length and connexions of the nasal bones, it is a true Crocodile. 



Amongst the existing species of Crocodile the Croc, aciitus of the West Indies 

 offers the nearest approach to the Croc, toliapicus, and the Croc. ScJilc(jeUi of Borneo, 

 most resembles the Croc, champsoides. But there are well-marked characters in both 

 the skull and the vertebrae which specifically distinguish the two fossil Crocodiles of 

 Sheppy from their above-cited nearest existing congeners. 



Crocodilus Hastings:^, Owen. Plates 1 ^ 1 -8, 1 C,fig. 1 and PI. 1 ^, figs. 2 and 5- 



ReporU of the British Association, 1847, p. 65. 



That Crocodiles with proportions of the jaws assigned to the Eocene species noticed 

 in Dr. Buckland's ' Bridgewater Treatise' and especially adapted for grappling wdth 

 strong mammiferous animals, actually existed at that ancient tertiary epoch, and have left 

 their remains in this island, is shown by the singularly perfect fossil skull figured in 

 the above-cited plates. This specimen was discovered by the Marchioness of Hastings, 

 in the Eocene fresh-water deposits of the Hordle Cliffs in Hampshire, which her 



