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YEETEBRATA. 
Blanding's Tortoise, C. Blandingii, is larger tlian the preceding ; the shell seven to eight 
inches long; ranges through the 
Northern and Middle States. 
Fossil Tortoises. — Small as the 
existing species of Tortoises are, 
it appears that in former periods of 
the earth's history, at least one spe- 
cies of gigantic size belonging to 
this family dragged its ponderous 
bulk over the soil of India; this 
is the Colossochelys Atlas, the re- 
mains of which were discovered in 
the Sew alio Hills of North India 
by Falconer and Cautley. Those 
gentlemen think it possible that this gigantic reptile, which measured about eighteen feet in 
length, existed down to the human era, and that it may thus have given rise to the extraordinary 
traditions of the Hindoos, which attribute the most important parts in the creation of the world 
to gigantic tortoises. 
ORDER 2. LORICATA. 
The term Loricata^ derived from the Latin, signifies animals covered with a corselet or coat 
of mail, and is descriptive of the Crocodiles and their allied species. These are marked by a 
dermal skeleton, composed above of numerous large, square, bony plates, set in the leathery 
corium or hide ; the lower parts are covered with wrinkled skin ; they have an elongated head ; 
the mouth long, and opening as though both jaws moved, which, hoAvever, is not the case ; the 
upper one only is movable with the entire head. The teeth, which are confined to the jaws, are 
very formidable. These animals are all oviparous ; the eggs, being encased with a hard covering, 
are laid by the females in warm, sandy places, where they are hatched by the sun, the parents 
sometimes taking no further care of their progeny. They are exceedingly voracious, and abound 
in the fresh waters of wami climates. Some species hide their prey under water for several days, 
until it begins to putrefy, when they devour it. 
Genus CROCODILE : Crocodilus. — Of this there are several species in Africa, Asia, and 
America, but none in Europe or Australia. The most celebrated is the Egyptian or Common 
Crocodile, C. vulgaris, twenty to thirty feet long ; the teeth are numerous, large, conical, and 
disposed in a single row on each side of the upper and lower jaws ; the body is depressed, and 
covered above with solid, carinated, bony shields ; the tail is long and flattened at the sides ; 
gape extending beyond the skull ; each fore-foot armed with five claws and the hinder ones 
with four. Except the elephant, the rhinoceros, and the hippopotamus, the bulk of the croco- 
dile perhaps exceeds that of every terrestrial animal ; no fishes frequenting fresh water equal it, 
and but a few species of those belonging to the seas. The largest are not less than thirty feet 
in length, and one of only half that size is five feet in circumference ; the body stands low on the 
ground, and the animal universally presents a dull and sluggish aspect. Nevertheless, its motions 
in pursuit of prey are not slow ; and the difiiculty which it finds in turning affords the surest 
means of escape on land ; its agility in water is infinitely greater. These facts are better illus- 
trated when the animal is roused to action. Its natural abode is in the water, for scarcely one- 
fourth of its existence is passed on the earth. The muddy edges and thick reeds of slow and 
tranquil streams are its favorite haunts ; and it sometimes descends rivers to within the flowing 
of the tide. On leaving them, it advances always with a slow pace, nearly in a straight line, its 
belly frequently dragging on the ground, and its head commonly elevated. However, it is sel- 
dom seen standing, and its chief enjoyment seems to be in lying in a state of absolute quiescence. 
When in pursuit of prey, it swims gently and silently, just on a level with the water, until it 
approaches the place where some terrestrial animal comes to quench its thirst. Then curving 
blanding's box-tortoise. 
