BY J. DOUGLAS OGILBY. 5 
Crocodilus palustris, Lesson, from the Malay Archipelago 
westward to the Indian peninsula—may occur there, I have 
included them in the following synopsis. 
a. Snout very slender, the width of its base about 4 of 
its length, without distinct ridges; dorsal shield 
subcontinuous with the nuchal; limb-scales keeled 1. johnstonit- 
aa. Snout wide and rather short; dorsal shield well 
separated from the nuchal 
b. Width of snout at base 2 to $ of its length; a longi- 
tudinal ridge in front of the eye; limb-scales 
smooth or nearly so .. .. 2. porosus. 
bb. Width of snout at base } to 3 oe its iepattis ; no pre- 
orbital ridge ; limb- Wikies keeled sc .. 3. palustris. 
CROCODILUS POROSUS. 
Crocodilus porosus, Schneider, Hist. Amph., ii. p. 159, 1801: Boulenger, 
Catal. Chelon., etc., p. 284, 1889. 
Crocodilus pondicerianus, Giinther, Rept. Brit. Ind., p. 62, pl. vii, 
1864, Pondicherry. 
THE ESTUARINE CROCODILE. 
Head rough, about twice as long as wide at the base, 
with a more or less strong ridge on each side in front of 
the eye, the pair slightly converging anteriorly ; mandibular 
symphysis extending to the fifth tooth. Four large nucha 
scutes forming a square, with one or two smaller ones on each 
side ; postoccipital scutes usually absent. Dorsal shield 
formed of sixteen or seventeen transverse and four to eight 
longitudinal series of scutes. Limbs smooth or nearly so, 
Adult dark olive above ; young pale olive, with large dark 
spots on the body and tail and dots on the head, (porosus, 
pitted.) 
Length to 25 feet. A skull in the South Kensington 
Museum belonged to an individual said to have been no less 
than 33 feet in length; it was obtained at Bawisaul in the 
Bengal Presidency in 1840. 
Distribution :—From India, Ceylon, and southern China 
through Malaysia to North Australia, New Guinea, the 
Solomon and Fiji Islands. This crocodile habitually enters 
salt water and is often seen at a considerable distance from 
the shore. In addition to being the largest it is also as might 
be expected, one of the most dangerous of all the crocodiles, 
freely attacking human beings. 
