ROOM III. 



TEETH OF GONIOPHOLIS. 



171 



the corresponding portions of several of the bones, as 

 well as others of which there are no traces, on the left-hand 

 piece. 1 



Teeth of Goniopholis. (Lign. 39.) The teeth of this reptile 

 are of the usual crocodilian type ; they are cylindrical, and 

 smooth at the base, and have a rounded 

 obtusely conical enamelled crown, the 

 surface of which is strongly marked 

 by numerous well denned longitudinal 

 grooves and ridges, with a prominent me- 

 dian ridge on each side, placed anteriorly 

 and posteriorly. Teeth of this kind are not 

 uncommon in the strata of Tilgate Forest, 

 aud other localities of the Weald of Sussex : 

 they were described by me in 1822 ("Fos- 

 sils of the South Downs," p. 50), and 

 subsequently in the " Fossils of Tilgate 

 Forest," (p. 64, PL V. figs. 1,2, 3, 7) : speci- 

 mens which I transmitted to Baron Cuvier, 

 are figured and described in " Ossemens 

 Fossiles" tome v. p. 161, PL X. ; together LIGN. 39. A TOOTH OP 

 with vertebra, which were supposed to GoNIOP ^ a L ;. 8 , c z :;; ssiDENS - 

 belong to the same species of saurian. 2 



The teeth and bones vary considerably in size : some 

 appear to have belonged to individuals not more than eight or 



1 A lithograph of the left-hand specimen is given in the third edition 

 of my " Wonders of Geology," 1839. 



2 " Des os de Crocodiles des sables ferrugineux du dessous de. la 

 Craie, trouves dans le Comte de Sttssex, par M. Mantell." After de- 

 scribing the geology of that part of England from the account given in 

 my " Fossils of the South Downs," then recently published, Baron 

 Cuvier observes : " M. Mantell a bien voulu me communiquer quelques- 

 uns de ses morceaux, et j'y ai reconnu, comme lui, des dents et des 

 vertebres appartenaut manifestement & ce genre (Crocodiles). II se 

 trouve parmi les vertebres une quatrieme dorsale, une du milieu de la 

 queue, et une d'un peu plus loin, provenant d'un individu de neuf a dix 

 pieds de long. Les vertebres sont un peu concaves aux deux extremity's, 

 ce qui les rapproche du crocodile de Caen, et du deuxieme de ceux de 

 Honfleur. Les dents sont pour la plupart plus obtuses me" me que dans 

 nos crocodiles vulgaires, et ressemblent en ce point & la seconde du 

 Jura que j'ai decrite ci-dessus." Oss. Foss. tome v. p. 163. Paris, 

 1824. 



