480 SAURIANS. 



The HELMETED CROCODILE, C. galeatus, (Lat. helmeted,) is 

 found in Siam. 



The Two-RiDGED CROCODILE, C. biporcatus, (Lat. Ms, twice ; 

 porcatus, ridged.) occurs in the Ganges, in the rivers of Pondi- 

 cherry, and in those of Java. 



The CUIRASSED CROCODILE, C. cataphractus, (Gr. kataphracios, 

 mailed,) is found in the river Galba, near Sierra Leone, (Africa.) 



The GAVIALS. 



Gavialis. This genus is at once distinguished by the length 

 and narrowness of the jaws, which are prolonged in a straight 

 beak-like snout, armed with ranges of formidable teeth. Of this 

 genus there is but one known species. 



The GAVIAL OF THE GANGES, Gavialis Gangeticus, (see Chart,) 

 one of the scourges of that celebrated river. The dying Hindoo, 

 exposed upon its bank, and the dead body committed to its 

 waters, become, not rarely, the food of this ferocious animal. 



&quot;In the living sub-genera of the Crocodilean family,&quot; observes 

 Dr. Buckland, ( Bridgewater Treatise, pp. 20,) &quot;we see the 

 elongated and slender beak of the Gavial of the Ganges, con- 

 structed to feed on fishes; while the shorter and stronger snout 

 of the broad-nosed Alligators, gives them the power of seizing 

 and devouring quadrupeds that come to the banks of rivers in 

 hot countries. As there were scarcely any mammalia during 

 the secondary periods, whilst the waters were abundantly stored 

 with fishes, we might, a priori, expect that if any crocodilean 

 forms had then existed, they would have most nearly resembled 

 the Common Gavial ; and we have hitherto only found those 

 genera which have elongated beaks in formations anterior to, 

 and including the chalk, while True Crocodiles, with a short and 

 broad snout, like that of the Caiman and the Alligator, appear 

 for the first time in strata of the tertiary periods, in which remains 

 of the Mammalia abound.&quot; 



FOSSIL CROCODILES. 



These have been found in the Eocene or early tertiary depos 

 its of England. About seventy fossil members of the Crocodile 

 family are known; but not many belong to the United States. 

 In their structure, they conform most nearly to the Gavial of the 

 Ganges. 



The genus Steneosaurus, (Gr. stenos, narrow or straight; 

 sauros, a lizard), affords the nearest link to the living species of 

 the crocodile family. 



The genus Teleosaurus, (Gr. teleios, perfect ; sauros, a lizard,) 



