182 PETRIFACTIONS AND THEIR TEACHINGS. CHAP. III. 



The cranium is broad posteriorly and square-shaped ; it 

 begins to contract anterior to the orbits, and gradually 

 extends into a narrow depressed snout. The orbits are 

 subcircular, and are directed upwards and outwards. The 

 columella or ossicle of the ear is cylindrical, and relatively 

 larger than in any known reptile. The entire length of the 

 cranium and mandibles in some individuals was from four 

 to five feet. The teeth are slender and sharp pointed, and 

 amount to 140. 



The spine is composed of sixty-four biconcave vertebrae; 

 viz. : seven cervical, sixteen dorsal, three lumbar, two sacral, 

 and thirty-six caudal. The largest vertebras are three inches 

 in length. The ribs possess the usual crocodilian character; 

 the number of dorsal ribs exceeds that of any existing croco- 

 dilian, amounting to sixteen pairs. The scapulae and cora- 

 coids correspond with those of the Crocodile, but are smaller. 

 The humerus and bones of the fore-arm are much shorter 

 than in the Crocodile. The femur (15J inches long) is of 

 the usual double-curved crocodilian form. The tibia and 

 fibula (eight inches long), resemble those of the Teleosaums 

 prisons (ante, p. 178) in their relative shortness as compared 

 with the femur. All the long bones, and even the metatarsals, 

 are stated to have distinct medullary cavities. 



The dermal scutes are arranged as in the existing gavials, 

 both in longitudinal and transverse series : the pits on the 

 external surface are nearly circular, and do not present the 

 irregular forms observable in the scales of the Swanage Cro- 

 codile, (ante, p. 173.) The posterior margin of one scute 

 covers the base of the succeeding one, and they overlap 

 each other laterally ; but there are no lateral points or 

 processes as in the Goniopholis. The largest scutes are about 

 3 1 inches square. 



TELEOSAURUS CADOMENSIS. (On the right of Teleosaums 

 Chapmanni.) This is a cast of the cranium and part of the 

 vertebral column of a Teleosaurus, from the Oolite of Caen, 

 in which locality remains of this species are common. 

 This reptile was described by M. Ciivier as " Gavial de 

 Caen," in " Oss. Foss." tome v. p. 127. It has 180 teeth ; 

 its beak, or mandible, is longer than in Teleosaurus priscus ; 

 the dermal scutes are rectangular, and thin at the margin ; 

 there are fifteen or sixteen transverse rows between the 



