CATALOGUE OF SHIELD REPTILES. 



9 



The largest skull in the British Museum is 29 inches 

 long ; the adult skulls vary from 29 to 31 inches in length ; 

 a half-grown species is 19 inches long. The skull 20 

 inches long is said to be from an animal caught in Bengal 

 that was 33 feet long. 



Cuvier figures the skulls of young and half-grown speci- 

 mens. S. Miiller and Scklegel figure two skulls, one under 

 the name of C. biporcatus (f. 6), and the other under the 

 name of C. biporcatus raninus (f. 7) : the latter seems to 

 be from an adult or aged animal ; the former (f. C) from a 

 full-grown one before the skull is thickened and spread 

 out. Another specimen, figured as C. biporcatus raninus 

 (f. 8), appears to be from a specimen of Crocodilus or 

 Bombifrons siamensis ; it certainly is not an Oopholis, from 

 the form of the dorsal scales and the presence of the nuchal 

 ones. 



There is a good series of skulls of this species in the 

 Museum of the College of Surgeons ; but no. 725, named 

 C. biporcatus in the Catalogue, is the skull of an adult Cro- 

 codilus vulgaris ; and no. 713, called C. acutus in the Cata- 

 logue, is Oopholis porosus. 



The British Museum received from the Leyden Museum 

 an adult skull of the Crocodilus (biporcatus) raninus from 

 Borneo ; it is 22 inches long, and agrees in every respect 

 with the Oopholis porosus from India. 



Mr. Landcsborough observes : — " Harmless as this animal 

 is in Australia, we were not anxious for his company in 

 his native element." — Exploration of Australia, p. 70. 



b. The dorsal scales in four series; tin vertebral series 

 broader than long, tfa outer series elongate-ovate. 



2. Oopholis pondicherianus. (Pondicherry Crocodile.) 



Oopholis pondicherianus, Gray, Ann. \ Mag. Nat. Hist. 

 3rd series, x. p. 208 ; Trans. Zool. Soe. 1869, vi. p. 139. 

 Crocodilus pondicerianus, Giinther, Bept. B. I. t. 7. 



The specimen of this species in the British Museum is 

 small and only just hatched, but it is quite distinct from 

 all the others. The vertebral series of plates are nearly 

 twice as broad as those in 0. porosus ; the others also are 

 rather wider in comparison ; all the dorsal scales are more 

 keeled, and the keels of the scales on the side of the base 

 of the tail are wider and more prominent. The black spots 

 are larger and further apart. 



The specimen was purchased of M. Parzudaki of Paris, 

 it having formed part of a collection which he received 

 from the French Museum. 



B. Nuchal plates four, or rarely two or five, in a crossseries. 

 The dorsal plates as broad as long, in four or six serii 

 Fluviatile or River Crocodiles. 



a. Tin iiitt r,na.rillary bones truncated behind, with a marly 

 straight j>r< uui.cillari/ suture. Face broad, oblong. 



To observe the form of the premaxillary suture in the 

 preserved specimens, it is only necessary to elevate the skin 

 of the front of the palate and lay the bones bare. 



* Toes webbed; legs distinctly fringed. Asiatic Crocodiles. 



2. BOMBIFRONS. 



The premaxillary suture straight or rather convex for- 

 wards. The face oblong ; forehead with nodules in front 

 of the orbits, but no distinct preorbital ridges. Nuchal 

 plates four, in a curved line. Cervical plates six, in the 

 form of a rhombic shield, distinct from the dorsal one. 

 Dorsal plates oblong, rather elongate, all keeled, in six 

 longitudinal series, and with two short lateral series of 

 keeled scales. The legs fringed with a series of triangular 

 elongated scales. Toes webbed. 



Bombifrons, Gray, Ann. § Mag. Nat. Hist. 3rd series, x. 

 p. 209 ; Trans. Zool. Soc. 1809, vi. p. 139. 



Skull with the nostril separate, the internal nostril as 

 broad as wide, with a deep pit on each side in front of it. 

 and rather bent down so as to open nearly horizontally. 



1, Bombifrons indicus. (The Muggar.) 

 (Figs. 1-4.) 



The intermaxillary short, nearly semicircular. 



Crocodilus vulgaris, var. indicus, Gray, Syn. Bept. p. 58, 



1831! 

 Crocodilus dubius, Geoff. Ann. du Mus. xii. p. 122? 

 Crocodilus suchus, var. D, Bum. Enc. Meth. Bept. p. 27. 

 Crocodilus palustris, Lesson, Belangi r's Toy. p. 305. 

 Gray, Cat. Tort, if Croc. B. M. p. 62 (.young). 

 Owen, Cat. Osteol. Mus. Coll. Surg. pp. 104 & 752! 

 Giinther, Bept. B. hid. t. 8. f. a. 

 Strauch, Crocod. p. 48. 

 Crocodilus bombifrons, Gray, Cat. Tort. £f Croc. B. M. p. 59, 



1844 (adult) ! 

 Crocodilus bombifrons (palustris ?), Huxley, Proc. Linn. Soc. 



Zool. iv. p. 13 !, 1859. 

 Crocodilus biporcatus, Cautley, Asiat. Besearches, xix. t. :•!. 



f. 1, p. 3! (not Cuvier). 

 Crocodilus trigonops, Gray. Cat. Tort, <J- Croc. B. M. p. 62, 



1844 (young) ! 

 Bombifrons trigonops. Gray, Ann. 4' Mag. N. H. 3rd series, 

 x. p. 269 ! 



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