THE EOCENE PERIOD. 307 



(Lacertilians} are found in some abundance in the Eocene 

 deposits, some being small terrestrial forms, like the common 

 European lizards of the present day ; whilst others equal or 

 exceed the living Monitors in size. Lastly, the modern order 

 of the Crocodilia is largely represented in Eocene times, by 

 species belonging to all the existing genera, together with 

 others referable to extinct types. As pointed out by Owen, 

 it is an interesting fact that in the Eocene rocks of the south- 

 west of England, there occur fossil remains of all the three 

 living types of Crocodilians namely, the Gavials, the true 

 Crocodiles, and the Alligators (fig. 226) though at the 

 present day these forms are all geographically restricted in 

 their range, and are never associated together. 



Almost all the existing orders of Birds, if not all, are 

 represented in the Eocene deposits by remains often very 

 closely allied to existing types. Thus, amongst the Swimming 

 Birds (Natatorcs} we find examples of forms allied to the 

 living Pelicans and Mergansers; amongst the Waders (Gral- 

 latores} we have birds resembling the Ibis (the Numenius 

 gypsorum of the Paris basin) ; amongst the Running Birds 

 (Cursores} we meet with the great Gastornis Parisicnsis, which 

 equalled the African Ostrich in height, and the still more 



Fig. 226. Upper jaw of Alligator. Eocene Tertiary. Isle of Wight. 



gigantic Dasornis Londinensis; remains of a Partridge rep- 

 resent the Scratching Birds (Rasores} ; the American Eocene 

 has yielded the bones of one of the Climbing Birds (Scan- 

 sores}, apparently referable to the Woodpeckers; the Protornis 

 Glarisiensis of the Eocene Schists of Claris is the oldest 

 known example of the Perching Birds (Insessores) ; and the 



