174 PETRIFACTIONS AND THEIR TEACHINGS. CHAP. III. 



this respect, the scales of the large Wealden fish, the Lepidotus, 

 with which the remains of Gouiopholis are frequently as- 

 sociated. 



Numerous hexagonal and pentagonal scutes, united by 

 marginal sutures, also entered into the composition of the 

 dermal cuirass of this reptile, which must, therefore, have 

 possessed a flexible and impenetrable coat of armour, capable 

 of affording protection against the attack of any assailant. 



From the structure of the skeleton of the Gfoniopholis, we 

 may infer that the original was a powerful carnivorous reptile, 

 resembling in its habits the existing Crocodiles and Gavials, 

 and frequenting the rivers and marshes of the country inha- 

 bited by the colossal terrestrial lizards with whose remains its 

 bones and teeth are generally found associated throughout 

 the Wealden deposits of England and Germany. 



FOSSIL CROCODILIANS. As the cabinet under review con- 

 tains the remains of several other species and genera of 

 crocodilian reptiles, it will be convenient to notice them 

 under this section, and afterwards examine the Batrachians, 

 Pterosaurians, &c. that are placed next in order to the Swanage 

 Crocodile above described. 



The loricated, or mailed saurians, the Alligators, Crocodiles, 

 and Gavials, are the largest living forms of cold-blooded ovi- 

 parous quadrupeds. No relics of any recent species of these 

 genera have been observed in a fossil state ; but remains of 

 Crocodilians of the existing generic types, having the spinal 

 column composed of concavo-convex vertebra, have been 

 found in the Isle of Sheppey, on the coasts of Western 

 Sussex and Hampshire, and other localities of the London 

 clay. 



It may be stated in general terms, that of the Crocodilians 

 with broad muzzles, as the Cayman, and Alligator, no repre- 

 sentatives have been found in formations more ancient than 

 the Tertiary ; those of the Secondary deposits being all 

 referable to the division with elongated beaks, like the 

 Gavials, which are characterised by their long and extremely 

 narrow jaws, with teeth that are nearly of equal size, and alike 

 in form ; their feet are palmated. They inhabit the Ganges 

 and other rivers of India, and sometimes attain a length of 

 thirty feet. The fossil Crocodilians of the Gavial type are sub- 

 divided into two groups ; the Teleosaurus, in which the nasal 



