CATALOGUE OF SHIELD KK1TILES. 



th.' skeletons of Crocodiles and Alligators, giving details of 



t lin-t- or I'.uir species. The plates arc exceedingly accurate 

 in.l t'ull , being drawn and etohed by the Professor 



ind his wife direct from the specimens. Thej were pub- 

 lished at Vienna in 1862. There is a continuation of the 

 work containing throe additional plates, published in 1865, 

 principally devoted to the canals of the ear-bone. 



I must here refer to a paper by Professor Huxley, en- 

 titled "On the Dermal Armour of Jacart and Caiman, 

 with Notes Oil the Speeitie and Generic Characters of re- 

 cent Crocodilia." As this paper contains an excellent 

 a. count of the osteologieal differences between the different 

 genera of Croeodilia, 1 have not considered it desirable to 

 repeat them here, more especially as they were chiefly 

 drawn up from specimens in the British Museum. 



Subsequently to my Synopsis, Dr. Alexander Strattch 

 published a memoir on the recent species of Crocodiles in 

 the Mem. Acad. So. St. Pet. x. No. 13, 1866, pp. 120. He 

 gives a compiled synopsis and diagnosis of all the species 

 known, and of the synonymy, with their habitats, illus- 

 trated by a map, and a detailed description of the thirteen 

 species in the St. -Petersburg Museum. But the specimens 

 • xamined, characterized, and described are generally young ; 

 and there is an evident want of material for so extensive 

 a work, as is generally the case with the continental au- 

 thors who do not visit the English collections. 



SrNorsis of the Families. 

 A. The cervical and dorsal plates forming one dorsal shield. 



1. GAVIALID.E. The large front teeth and the canines in the 



lower jaw fit into notches in the margin of the upper jaw. 



B. The cervical shield forms a small group, which is separate from 

 the dorsal shield. 



2. CROCODnJDa:. The canines fit into notches in the upper 



jaw, and the large front teeth fit into pits or perforations in 

 the front of the upper jaw. 



3. alligatortd.5:. The large front teeth and the canines fit 



into pits or perforations in the edge of the upper jaw. 



The large front teeth of the Garials fit into a notch in 

 the front of the upper jaw, and the canines into a notch 

 also. In the Crocodiles the canines fit into a notch, as in 

 the Garials, but the large front teeth into pits or perfora- 

 tions in the front of the upper jaw ; and in the Alligators 

 both the canines and the large front teeth fit into pits or 

 perforations in the edge of the upper jaw. 



The geographical distribution of the genera may be thus 



exhibited : — 



AFRICA. 



( irocodilus. 



I lalcrosia. 

 Mecistops. 



Asia and Australasia, 



Pain, (iarialidte. 



Gavialis. 

 Tomistoma. 



Fain. Crocodilidce. 

 Oopholis. 



Bombifrons. 



America. 



Palinia. 



Molinia. 



Fam. AUiyatorida. 

 Alligator. 

 Caiman. 

 Jacare. 



In Africa there are three species of Crocodiles. They all 

 seem to have been known to Adanson. They are : — (1) the 

 common Crocodile (called the Olive Crocodile by Adanson), 

 Crocodilus vulgaris, which is spread over the whole of 

 Africa, from north to south, and from east to west ; (2) the 

 Black Crocodile of Adanson (Halcrosia nigra); and (3) the 

 False Gavial of Adanson (the Mefistops cataphractus). The 

 two latter are confined to the rivers on the west coast of 

 Africa. 



In India there are also three species of Crocodiles : — 

 (1) the Oopholis porosus (or Crocodilus biptorcatus of Cuvier), 

 which is found only in the estuaries at the mouths of the 

 large rivers ; (2) the Muggar ( Bombifrons indicus) ; and 

 (3) the Garial or Ghurrial, which is confined to rivers in 

 the interior of the country. The Coombeer or Muggar 

 ascends the rivers to the mountains, where the water is 

 often frozen. The Ghurrial, on the contrary, is confined 

 to the lower level, where the climate is warm. 



In stating that there are three species of Crocodiles in 

 India, I only intend to state that there are three distinct 

 forms ; for I will not undertake to say, for certain, that 

 the Muggar of Ceylon, of Siam, and of India are not di- 

 stinct species. 



Mr. Blyth observes — " Both the Gangetic species of Cro- 

 codiles have been received by the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, 

 from Java. The Crocodiles are known to abound in Timor, 

 from which island they may well have passed to Australia. 

 Governor Grey met with them in the north-west." — Blyth, 

 Rep. Austral. Vert, in Mus. A. S. C. 



If by " both the Gangetic species of Crocodile " Mr. 

 Blyth means the estuarine Crocodile ( Oopholis porosus) 

 and the Coombeer or Muggar (Bombifrons indicus), no ex- 

 ample of the latter animal from either Java, Timor, or 

 Australia has occurred to me, and the animal figured as 

 Crocodilus raninus by Dr. Salomon Miiller is certainly 

 Oopholis porosus ; and there is in the British Museum a 



