1831 .] 
On the Crocodilia. 
285 
Family Crocodilia. 
Body elongated, covered with large osseous scales, those of the bach being crested 
in the middle : feet four, with five toes before and four behind, the three inne r 
with nails : hind feet entirely or partially webbed : teeth numerous, pointed, form- 
ing a single row in each jaw : tongue fleshy, flat, and attached almost entirely 
to the bottom of the mouth ; tail flattened on the sides, with a strongly dentated 
crest, double at the base, hut single towards its extremity. 
The following table will at a glance enable anyone to determine to what genus 
any of the family belongs. 
Genera. 
■nearly equal, muzzle slender, very long and rather larger at the top, Gaviala. 
unequal : 4th lower tooth J into a groove in the upper jaw, Crocodilus. 
. on each side received l into a hole in the upper jaw, Alligator . 
Teeth • 
Genus 1. Gaviala. 
Snout slender, very long, and rather larger at the tip : teeth nearly equal, the 
4th of the lower jaw on each side received into a notch in the upper jaw : bind 
feet webbed to the toes and dentated on the external side, two small holes in the 
skull behind the eyes. 
1. — G. Gangetica, Cuv. ( longirostris, Schneid.) Teeth §®, head \en broad c in > 
and forming a rectangular figure, a third broader than its length ; orbits \erj wide 
and far apart. Cranial holes large, length of the snout about an eighth of that of the 
body, two little scales only behind the head, followed by four transverse ones, which 
are continued to those of the back. Habitat, India. 12 to 18 feet. 
2. — G. tenuirostris. Skull longer, but not so broad as the last, with the snout in 
nearly the same proportion. Upper surface of the skull forming a square behind 
the orbits, which are longer than broad and little apart . the back of the s 
defended by two pairs of oval scales followed by four casinated scales, placed 
transversely, and eighteen dorsal hands ; 2£ feet long. 
N. B. Cuvier, in the last edition of the ‘ Animal Kingdom,’ gives the ^1 owing 
note, ‘Add the little Gavial (Croc. Tenuirostris, CuvjFaujas. loc. Sit. pi. , 
if, indeed, it be a distinct species.’ That the small Gavial is a distinct species, there 
can be no doubt, if marked differences in the size and proportions ot the par s 
forming the head, to say nothing of the rest of the body, are to be regarded as 
specific characters. Besides, what can the small Gavial be, if not a separa e 
species? either a dwarf or a young animal: it may be the former, ut cer am y 
»s not the latter. I have a skull in my possession, the bones of w c are muc 
more consolidated than they are in the cranium of a G. Gangetica o ou > e 
length, and the latter is beyond dispute a young animal. I ma > return o 
subject on a future occasion, but avoid saying more, as it is not my inten ion a 
present to do more than record the opinions of otheis. 
Genus 2. Crocodilus. 
Head oblong and flattened ; teeth unequal, the fourth on each side m the lower 
1*® received into notches in the upper: in other respects like t le avia s. 
>' C. wlgaris, Cuv. — Nilotic Crocodile. Length of the head double the 
breadth, sides nearly straight, giving it an irregular triangular appearance, 
foramina broader than long ; muzzle irregular and rough, especia y in o anin a . . 
Immediately behind the skull on a transverse line are four itt e ores e sea s, 
then co mes the nuchal plate composed of si* crested scales: these arc follot 
% two S i„ gk scales, and afterwards by 16 transverse dorsal rows, the anterior 1- 
