382 



REPTILIA ORDER LCROCODILIA. 



Stumpy 



Crocodile 



(Osteolcemus). 



Garials 



( Rhynchosuchus 

 and Garialis). 



A small short-snouted species (Osteolcemus tetraspis) from Sierra Leone has 

 been referred to a genus by itself, on account of the nasal bones extending 

 right across the aperture of the nostrils. Although agreeing 

 in this respect with the alligators, in all other features this 

 species is a true crocodile. 



Two members of the order differ from all the foregoing in 

 having the edges of the very long and slender muzzle nearly 

 straight, instead of more or less distinctly festooned, and likewise by the 

 circumstance that the nasal bones stop considerably short of the hinder 

 border of the external nostrils. A further marked differ- 

 ence is to be found in the great length of the bony union be- 

 tween the two branches of the lower jaw, which extends at 

 least as far back as the fifteenth tooth. The teeth themselves 

 are also much more slender than in the preceding genera, the 

 fish-eating habits of the garials rendering a more powerful type of dentition 

 unnecessary. Of these two species, Schlegel's garial (Rhynchosuchus schlegeli) 

 inhabits the Malay peninsula and Borneo, and has the snout of medium 

 elongation and slenderness. Its claim to generic distinction is due to the 

 circumstance that the nasal bones extend forwards on the upper surface of 

 the snout to reach the premaxillre or anterior jawbones. It has twenty or 

 twenty-one upper, and eighteen or nineteen lower, teeth ; and its length 

 varies from twelve to fourteen feet. 



On the other hand, the true garial (Garialis gangetica), which inhabits the 

 Ganges, Bramaputra, Indus, and Mahanadi, together with a river in Arakan, 



is distinguished by the much 

 greater length and slenderness of 

 the snout, in which the nasal 

 bones stop short of the pre- 

 maxillse, so that the maxillae, or 

 hinder upper jawbones come into 

 contact with one another on the 

 upper surface of the snout be- 

 tween the other two pairs of bones. 

 The almost uniformly sized teeth 

 are very numerous, varying from 

 27 to 29 in the upper, and from 

 25 to 26 in the lower jaw. None 

 of the lower ones bite into pits in 

 the upper jaw, whereas some of 

 the former are so received in the 

 other species. All the toes are 

 fully webbed. In the adult the 



Fig 2. TRUE GARIAL (Garialis gangetica). 



general colour is dark olive on the head and back. The male garial may be 

 distinguished by the development of the expanded extremity of the muzzle 

 into a kind of hump, in the centre of which are situated the nostrils. The 

 garial grows to a length of about twenty feet, and feeds entirely on fish. 

 For the capture of its finny prey, the numerous slender, sharply pointed, 

 and somewhat curved teeth are admirably suited; and the highly developed 

 swimming powers of this species are also correlated with the nature of its 

 food. The female deposits her eggs in the sand of the river- banks, these 

 being generally laid in two distinct layers, one above the other. When the 

 young first make their appearance in the world, they have the snout propor- 



