CROCODILIDAE 



455 



retain the five teeth in each half of the premaxilla. The 

 mandibular symphysis is short, extending only to the level of 

 the fourth or fifth tooth. The snout is stout, rather broad ; the 

 top of the head is rough but without any ridges. The upper and 

 lower jaw each contain nineteen teeth 

 on either side. The nuchal scutes, ^/l .?_ D 

 six in number, are packed closely 

 together, the four biggest forming a 

 square. Four smaller scutes are 

 arranged in a curved line on the 

 occiput. The dorsal shield is com- 

 posed of four, sometimes of six rows 

 of larger scutes, of which the central 

 pair is the broadest. The fingers are 

 webbed at the base ; the outer toes 

 are broadly webbed, and the outer 

 edge of the hind-limbs is turned into 

 a serrated fringe. The general colour 

 of the upper parts is dark olive- 

 brown ; the young are pale, with 

 black spots. The length of twelve 

 feet is considered a fair average size 

 for a large specimen. 



This, the " Marsh Crocodile," has 

 a wide distribution. It inhabits the rivers, ponds, tanks, and 

 marshes of India and Ceylon, extending eastwards through 

 Burma and Malacca into most of the Malay islands, westwards 

 into Beluchistan. This species is frequently venerated by the 

 • Hindoos, and is kept in a kind of domesticated condition, 

 attended by fakirs. One of the most famous crocodile ponds, 

 the so-called " mugger -peer,'' lies in an oasis of the sandy 

 stretches to the north-west of Karachi. A. L. Adams has 

 described a visit to this pond.^ 



"The greater pond is about 300 yards in circumference, and 

 contains many little grassy islands, on which the majority of the 

 Crocodiles were then basking ; some were asleep on its slimy sides, 

 others half submerged in the muddy water, while now and then 

 a huge monster would raise himself upon his diminutive legs, and 

 waddling for a few paces, fall flat on his belly. Young ones, 



^ Waiideritigs of a Naturalist in India, Edinburgh, 1867. 



FlQ. 107. — Dorsal view of the skull 

 of Grocodilus palustris, x \. 

 The arrangement of the nuchal 

 scutes is shown in the upper 

 left-hand corner ; E, position of 

 the ear-flap. 



