CROCOUILUS. 5 



3. Crocodilus palustris. 



Crocodilus palustris, Lesson in B6lang. Voy. 2nd. Or., Zool. p. 305 ; 



Kelaart, Prodr. p. 183 ; Giinth. Sept. B. I. p. 61, pi. viii, fig. A ; 



Theob. Cat. p. 36 ; Bouleny. Cat. Chel. Sfc. p. 285. 

 Crocodilus trigonops, Gray, Cat. Tort. 8fC. p. 62. 



19 upper teeth on each side. Snout 1^ to 1^ as long as broad 

 at the base ; head rough but without any ridges ; mandibular 

 synaphysis extending to the level of the fourth or fifth tooth ;, pree- 

 maxillo-uiaxillary suture, on the palate, transverse, nearly straight, 

 or curved forwards ; nasal bones separating the praemaxillaries 

 above. Four large nuchals forming a square, with a smaller one 

 on each side ; two pairs of smaller nuchals on a transverse series 

 behind the occiput. Dorsal shield well separated from the nuchal, 

 the scutes usually in 4, rarely in 6, longitudinal series, those of 

 the two median usually considerably broader than long ; 16 or 17 

 transverse series. Scales on limbs keeled. Fingers webbed at the 

 base ; outer toes extensively webbed. A serrated fringe on the 

 outer edge of the leg. Adult blackish olive above: young pale 

 olive, dotted and spotted with black. 



The largest specimen in the British Museum measures 12 feet, 

 but individuals are said to grow much larger. 



Hub. India, Ceylon, Burma, Malay Peninsula and Archipelago. 

 This is the common Crocodile of India, found in rivers, marshes, 

 and ponds, and extending west to Sind and Baluchistan. 



This species is easily distinguished from C. porosus by its 

 shorter snout and by the presence of five teeth in each pra?- 

 maxillary bone, whilst the adult of the latter has but four. 



