72 EXTINCT MONSTERS 



the same species as the one that encloses them, and with the 

 head pointing in one direction. Such specimens are most 

 probably the fossilised remains of little fish-lizards, that were 

 yet unborn when their mothers met with an untimely end. 

 In some cases, however, they may be young ones that were 

 swallowed. 



The jaws of these hungry formidable monsters were provided 

 with a series of formidable teeth sometimes over two hundred 

 in number inserted in a long groove, and not in distinct 

 sockets, as in the case of crocodiles. In some cases, sixty or 

 more have been found on each side of the upper and lower jaws, 

 giving a total of over two hundred and forty teeth ! The larger 

 teeth may be two inches or more in length. 



The jaws were admirably constructed on a plan that combined 

 lightness, elasticity, and strength. Instead of consisting of one 

 piece only, they show a union of plates of bone, as in recent 

 crocodiles. These plates are strongest and most numerous just 

 where the greatest strength was wanted, and thinner and fewer 

 towards the extremities of the jaw. A crocodile, Sir Samuel 

 Baker says, in his Wild Beasts and their Ways, can bite a man 

 in two ; and no doubt our fish-lizard would have been glad to 

 perform the same feat ! But in his pre- Adamite days the oppor- 

 tunity did not present itself. 



The spinal column, or backbone, with its generally concave 

 vertebrae, must have been highly flexible, as is that of a fish, 

 especially the long tail which the creature worked rapidly from 

 side to side as it lashed the waters. 



Our description of the fish-lizard has, we trust, been sufficient 

 although not couched in the language used by men of science to 

 give a fair idea of its structure and habits. 



In conclusion, a few words may be said about the ancestry and 



