178 FOSSIL REPTILES. 



crocodile, Lacepede, like the two preceding 'writers, admits 

 four species, but combines them differently. His first species 

 is the crocodile, under which he includes, after the example of 

 Linnaeus, the common crocodiles of the old and new world as 

 one and the same species. 2. The black crocodile, which he 

 merely slightly notices after Adanson. 3. The gavial, or long- 

 beaked crocodile of the Ganges, of which he was the first to 

 give a good description. And lastly, an animal which he terms 

 fouette-queue, because he judges it to be the same as the lacerta 

 caudiverbera of Linnaeus. Its description was taken, however^ 

 from an altered figure of a crocodile given by Seba. 



Gmelin reduced the crocodiles to three species, 1st, by joining 

 the common crocodile and the crocodilus ^fricanus of Laurenti, 

 under the name of lacerta crocodilus ; 2ndly, uniting the gavial, 

 crocodilus terrestris of Laurenti, and the black crocodile, under 

 his lacerta Gangetica; andSrdly, by separating the cayman under 

 the name of lacerta alligator. Finally, Bonaterre returned to 

 the quaternary number, by adding the fouette-queue of M. de 

 Lacepede to Gmelin's three species, and neglecting the black 

 crocodile. These differences, however, in the establishment of 

 species were nothing in comparison of those which existed in 

 their characters and synonymy. 



Without entering into an account of these inconsistencies, 

 which produced a perfect chaos in this department of natural 

 history, we shall notice, in a few words, the characters which 

 circumscribe the genus. 



All the lizards or saurian reptiles which have the tail flat- 

 tened at the sides, the hind feet palmated, or semi-palmate ; 

 the fleshy tongue attached to the floor of the mouth, almost as 

 far as its edges, and by no means extensible ; sharp, simple 

 teeth on a single range, and a single penis in the male ; — these 

 are crocodiles. The three first-mentioned characters deter- 

 mine the aquatic nature of these animals, and the fourth con- 

 stitutes them voracious camivora. 



All the animals of this genus hitherto known also unite the 



