SEA-SERPENTS. 



137 



consisted of one hundred and thirty-one vertebrae, of which ninety- 

 seven belonged to the tail. The total length of the skeleton is 



FIG. 37. Skull of Mosasaurus Hoffi 



The original is 4^ ft. by 2.\ ft. 



estimated at twenty-four feet, and the head was about one-sixth 

 of the total length. The tail is only ten feet long, whereas in a 



FIG. 38. Teeth of Mosasaurus (half natural size). i a , 2 a , transverse 

 sections of the teeth. 



crocodile the tail exceeds the length of the body. Although in 

 his day the limbs of the Mosasaurus were imperfectly known, 

 Cuvier rightly considered them to be adapted for swimming, and, 



