302 



Sp. II. PI. recentior ? — The cervical vertebrae in this spe- 

 cies are the thinnest in the series, and scarcely 

 thicker in their proportions than those of the 

 ichthyosaurus ; while the dorsals are of the same 



these points which we have mentioned, as peculiarly resembling the 

 proper lacertian tribe. 



" The only circumstances of peculiar analog}'' with the crocodile, 

 are the dentition (as before stated) in distinct alveoli, and the distri- 

 bution of the holes in the maxillary bones giving passage to the 

 branches of the maxillary nerve. We have already mentioned the 

 analogies which are common to itself and the ichthyosaurus. 



" Like the ichthyosaurus, then, this animal seems, in a certain 

 degree, to have blended the characters of the lacertain branch of 

 saurians (properly" so called) with those of the crocodile, and to have 

 been, in the same manner, distinguished from all recent saurians by 

 an inferior developement of the olfactory organs. 



"The vertebrae agree more nearly with the crocodile than with 

 the ichthyosaurus ; their annular part is attached to the body by 

 sutures, and there are transverse processes throughout the greater 

 part of the dorsal vertebrae, which, together with the whole of the 

 annular part, very nearly resemble the corresponding forms in the 

 crocodilean type. They differ from them, 



1 . In place of being concave at one extremity and convex at the 

 other, thus articulating by a species of ball and socket-joint, they 

 are slightly concave at both extremities of their body, but again 

 slightly swelling in a contrasted curve near the middle of the cir- 

 cular area. In these features, however, Mr. Conybeare observes, 

 they agree with one species, at least, of those found in a fossil state 

 in England, France, and Germany, and all the fossil species appear 

 to have this structure in the posterior part of the column. 



"2. They differ from both the fossil and recent crocodiles in 

 their much narrower proportions; though far less so than do those 

 of the ichthyosaurus. 



"3. The number of cervical and dorsal vertebrae in this animal 

 appears to be forty-six; a number almost double that of any recent 

 saurian animal, and greater than even that of the ichthyosaurus, 

 which does not seem to possess above forty-one. 



" 4. They farther differ from both recent and fossil crocodiles, 

 in having the ribs through the greater part of the dorsal series arti- 



