BOOK TI, REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS 
BY W. SAVILLE-KENT, F.L.S., F,Z.S. 
REPTILES 
CHAPTER I 
CROCODILES AND ALLIGATORS 
HE Reptile Class. as defined by modern scientific limitations, includes among the living 
animals of the world the several groups of the Crocodiles, the Tortoises and Turtles, the 
Tuatera. the Lizards, and the Snakes. In the popular mind the Frogs and Toads, and 
the Newts and Salamanders, are often held to belong to the same main section; but these, 
as hereafter shown, claim, as Amphibians, an independent position of equivalent rank and value. 
In bygone geological ages the Reptile Class embraced a considerably larger number of groups; 
some of the members, such as the extinct Dinosaurs, comprised titanic monsters from 60 to 80 
feet in length. The Crocodiles and Alligators of the present day are the snly living reptiles 
which in any way approach the extinct Saurians in their dimensions, or assist us in some 
small measure to realise their unwieldy forms and bulk. 
The members of the Crocodile Order, which, in addition to the Alligators, includes also 
the Caimans and so-called Gavials or Garials, agree with one another in the more or less 
ponderous  lizard-like 
shape of their body, [4+ 47 =." ¥ Ti Yon, t thee, 4 F RW hy WL AO 
le ggg * & og! Ye Ms % ae Z ‘ iG 
° ies 
supported on well- ~y* ‘ . . gl, & 
¥ ‘ % * % oe iL A we 4 
developed but short @ . : . "hd “be 
: tm Ky ; % s' oe eee WHEN ye We 
and comparatively ra bee Py Pn * 6,7 A 
2 . | « Mo Ie A 4 0 as 2 j 4% % 
weak legs, in their (iss te“¥r. a, *, Set, ae en, wt 4, 
f i ae ig A a 
special adaptation to 
an amphibious ewist- 
ence, carnivorous 
habits, and restriction 
to tropical and sub- 
tropical climates. 
Among the salient 
characters of the 
CROCODILE, as the 
representative of its 
tribe, which specially 
adapt it for its aquatic 
habits, the long, power- 
ful tail is strongly 
Nah 
compressed and thus Phote by WH’. P. Dando, F.Z S. 
fitted for use as an YOUNG NILE CROCODILE 
organ of propulsion, This species was worshipped with divine honours and mummified after death by the ancient Egyptians 
147 
