SAURIANS. 495 



Samuel L. Mitchell, (Ann. of the Lye. of New York, Vol. III.) 

 Cuvier judged from the remains, that the animal was inter- 

 mediate between the extinct Enaliosauria, or Sea-Lizards, and 

 the living ones. The length of this fossil species is estimated at 

 from fifteen to twenty-five feet. (2) The animal of Maestritcht, 

 Mosasaurus, (Lat. mosa, the Latin name of Maestricht, and Gr. 

 sauros, a lizard,) named by Conybeare from a fine specimen ob- 

 tained from Maestricht, at the time of its, capture by the French 

 army. Specimens of this fossil, M. maximiliani or M. major 

 have been obtained from New Jersey and the banks of the 

 Yellow Stone River. DeKay gives the length, from four- 

 teen to fifteen feet ; but Dr. Buckland judges the animal to have 

 been twenty-five or twenty-eight long, (see his " Bridgewater Trea- 

 tise,") and so constructed as to "possess the power of moving in 

 the sea with sufficient velocity to overtake and capture such 

 large and powerful fishes as, from the enormous size of its teeth 

 and jaws, we may conclude it was intended to devour." 



SIXTH FAMILY. Teida. TEGUIXINS. 



The Lacertida have been arranged, by M. Dumeril, into two 

 divisions, viz : (1) Pleodonta, (Gr. pleos, full, not hollow; odous, 

 odontos, a tooth,) distinguished by having solid and rooted teeth ; 

 (2) Coelodonta, (Gr. koilos, hollow,) which have the teeth hol- 

 lowed by a sort of canal, and but slightly adherent to the bones 

 of the jaws. The latter are peculiar to the Old World ; the 

 Pleodonta are confined to this continent, and none are included 

 in the family Teidce, which have the head-plate horny, and the 

 scales small and granular, and sometimes with large plates. 

 This division is clearly separable from the Helioderms, of Mex- 

 ico, which have the head shields and scales of the body tubercu- 

 lar and the teeth groved within the ridge of the jaw. 



The present family of Lizards includes twelve genera, which 

 may be divided into two groups, the one with the tail compressed 

 or flattened vertically; the other with rounded tail; or they may be 

 divided into those in which the front has the cross-folds, with 

 six-sided scales between ; (2) those in which the throat has a 

 collar of large shields. 



Those which have compressed tails, show a marked resem- 

 blance to the Crocodiles, which is increased by their great size. 

 The tail is flattened somewhat like an oar, and the surface being 

 increased by caudal crests, these animals are able to move in the 

 water, which they inhabit, with nearly or quite as much facility 

 as the Crocodiles. 



