30 



The greater portion of the skull and lower jaw have fortun- 

 ately been preserved, also a small portion of the upper maxilla 

 and other portions of the jaw, but too fragmentary either for 

 restoration or identification. The upper surface of the head is 

 fairly preserved, the right temporal fossa being nearly perfect ; 

 but not so the left temporal, neither the left orbit, which are 

 much mutilated. The fossae differ considerably from those of 

 the living Crocodilia, both in size and shape, being quad- 

 rangular instead of orbicular, six inches and three-quarters long, 

 by three and three-quarters broad. The parietal ridge (P.) 

 divides them on their two inner borders ; the upper portion of 

 the principal frontal (F.) and the pref rentals (P.F.) intervene 

 between these and the orbits. The principal frontal (F.) is very 

 narrow at its anterior end, but expands widely upwards toward 

 the temporal region, where it measures five inches ; it forms the 

 inner and upper borders of the orbits, being articulated to the 

 postfrontals (Po. F.), prefrontals (P.F.) and nasals (N.) ; its 

 surface is flat, deeply and roughly pitted, some of the pits being 

 confluent. The prefrontals are very small, triangular in shape, 

 with a rough, pitted surface, articulated to the principal frontals, 

 lachrymals, and nasals. The lachrymals are also triangular, but 

 twice the size of the prefrontals ; their base forms the anterior 

 border of the orbit, and a sharp, narrow process of the outer border 

 of the nasals thrusts itself about half-way between the lachrymals 

 and prefrontals. The orbits have an oblique outward direc- 

 tion, not being placed on the summit of the head, nor parallel 

 with the plane of the skull, as is the case with many of the 

 Teleosaurs. Their inner borders are formed by the principal 

 frontal and the anterior frontals ; their anterior borders by the 

 lachrymals and prefrontals ; their outer borders by the jugals, 

 partly ; and their posterior borders by the principal frontal and 

 posterior frontals. 



The sudden contraction of the cranium into a prolonged upper 

 jaw confirms its gavial character. Its mutilation is most un- 

 fortunate, cutting off, as it does, the anterior portion of the 

 nasals ; the posterior portion is, however, retained, showing their 

 articulation with the lachrymals, prefrontals and principal frontal. 



