CHABACTEES OF RECENT CROCODTLIA. 15 



about the cranium of this species ; for Cuvier's, fig. 2, pi. 331, which 

 gives a view of the palate, shows the premasillo-maxillary suture 

 forming a nearly straight transverse line. 



There remain several species of Crocodihis whose skulls I have 

 not been able to examine, and of which no sufficient descriptions 

 exist. Of these, (7.) C.galeatus and (8.) C. Gravesii {planirostris) 

 would appear to be very distinct forms. (9.) C. inarginutus is con- 

 sidered by Dume'ril and Bibron to be only a variety of C. vulgaris ; 

 and they take the same view of (10.) Crocodilm suchus. Professor 

 Owen, however, has figured the cranium of an Egyptian mummy 

 under this name ('Monograph on the Eeptilia of the London Clay,' 

 Pal. Soc, 1850). In the under- view of this skull (tab. i. fig. 2), the 

 junction of the premaxilla and the maxilla in the palate seems to 

 be broken away ; but on the left side, the palatine process of the 

 maxilla is entire, as far as the level of the anterior margin of the 

 sixth tooth, and there is not a trace of a suture behind this point. 

 Are there, then, two or more species of Crocodile in Egypt, as 

 Geolfroy St,-Hilaire supposed ? 



With regard to the distribution of the species of Crocodilus, C. 

 vulgaris, C. marginatus, and C. suchus (?) appear to be exclusively 

 African ; all the crocodiles from other parts of the Eastern hemi- 

 sphere, which I have met with, belong, as I have stated above, 

 either to C. biporcatti-s or C. homhifrons, both of which species are 

 found in the Ganges. Crocodilus galeatus appears to be peculiar 

 to Siam. Crocodilus Americanus and C. rhomhifer are undoubt- 

 edly American. C. Journei has been supposed to be African ; but 

 such positive evidence as exists tends rather to prove it to be an 

 American species. Thus Bory de St. Vincent states that the 

 Bordeaux specimen is "suspected to have come from America;" 

 and, as I have said, the skull in the British Museum is labelled 

 "from the Orinoko." 



Crocodilus Gravesii (planirostns) is supposed by Bory de St. 

 Vincent to have been brought from the Congo ; but its real origin 

 is not known. 



Genus 5. Mecistops. 



The cranium is elongated, and the snout slender and Gavial-like. 

 There are eighteen slender and subequal teeth above, and fifteen 

 below, on each side. The mandibular symphysis extends back to 

 the level of the seventh tooth. The cervical scutes are arranged 

 in two transverse rows, each of which contains two scutes ; and 

 there is no space left between the posterior row and the tergal series. 



