ROOM III. TELEOSAURUS. 177 



figured in PL XV. of his beautiful work on the fossils of some 

 of the cretaceous and tertiary deposits of Sussex. 



TELEOSAURUS. To this genus belong several interesting 

 fossils contained in the Wall-case B. In reference to the 

 general characters of the extinct Crocodiles comprised in this 

 group, the eminent palaeontologist Herm. von Meyer observes 

 that " the form of the head approaches that of the Gavials, 

 but the beak or mandible is longer and more slender, and the 

 teeth more numerous : the first tooth is generally very long, 

 and the other teeth are alternately longer and shorter. The 

 head is from three to four feet in length. The hinder arti- 

 cular surface of the bodies of the vertebrae is concave ; and 

 their processes show considerable departure from those of 

 Crocodiles. The skin was covered by broader and thicker 

 scales than in the Crocodilians, and these scutes overlaid 

 each other in such manner as to constitute a strong flexible 

 coat of mail. The scales are deeply pitted externally by 

 hemispherical depressions ; and their form, structure, and 

 arrangement, led M. Geoffrey to conclude that the living 

 Teleosauri must have been more decidedly aquatic than the 

 Crocodiles, and were probably marine animals. 



In their general shape the Teleosauri are more slender than 

 the Gavials, and the feet are better adapted for swimming than 

 for walking ; the fore-feet being not more than half the size 

 of the hinder ones. This disproportion of the organs of pro- 

 gression, together with the scaly dermal integument, must 

 have rendered the motions of these animals difficult on land, 

 but in the water they could move with great facility, and 

 there can be little doubt that these ancient gavial-like 

 saurians inhabited the seas of the Secondary Epochs. 1 



Teleosaurus. Wall-case B. A cranium with the jaws 

 and teeth most beautifully preserved, the extremity of the 

 muzzle being entire, and exhibiting the apertures of the 

 nostrils, is placed in the recess near the Crocodilus tolia- 

 picus ; but I have not been able to obtain any information 

 respecting this fine specimen. On the same ledge is the 

 upper part of the cranium of another example of Crocodilus 

 Spenceri. 



1 From " Palseologica zur Geschichte der Erde und ihrer Geschb'pfe, 

 von Hermann von Meyer." Frankfort, 1822. 



H 



