MOSASAURUS. 217 
overtake and capture such large and powerful 
fishes, as from the enormous size of its teeth 
and jaws, we may conclude it was intended to 
devour. 
The head and teeth, (PI. 20.) point out the 
near relations of this animal to the Monitors ; 
and the proportions maintained throughout all the 
other parts of the skeleton warrant the conclu- 
sion, that this monstrous Monitor of the ancient 
deep was five and twenty feet in length, although 
the longest of its modern congeners does not 
exceed five feet. The head here represented 
measures four feet in length, that of the largest 
Monitor does not exceed five inches. The most 
skilful Anatomist would be at a loss to devise 
a series of modifications, by which a Monitor 
could be enlarged to the length and bulk of a 
Grampus,* and at the same time be fitted to 
move with strength and rapidity through the 
waters of the sea ; yet in the fossil before us, 
we shall find the genuine characters of a Mo- 
nitor maintained throughout the whole skeleton, 
with such deviations only as tended to fit the 
animal for its marine existence. 
The Mosasaurus had scarcely any character 
in common with the Crocodile, but resembled 
the Iguanas, in having an apparatus of teeth 
fixed on the pterygoid bone, (PI. 20, k.) and 
placed in the roof of its mouth, as in many 
* The Grampus is from 20 to 25 feet long, and very ferocious^ 
feeding on seals and porpoises as well as on fishes. 
