FOSSILS OF THE LAND PEBBLE PHOSPHATE DE¬ 
POSITS. 
CROCODILES AND GAYIALS. 
Crocodilian teeth, vertebrae and bones are not uncommon in the 
phosphate beds, and the members of this order were no doubt abun¬ 
dant in the shallow waters in which the land pebble phosphates accu¬ 
mulated. 
Figs. 29 and 30.— Tomistoma americana Sellards. Upper and lower view 
of rostrum. Sutures not sufficiently evident in the photograph are indicated by 
dotted lines. Approximately one-third natural size. From the Bone Valley 
formation, Brewster. Fla. Geol. Surv. collection No. 3657. Length of specimen 
as preserved 49 cm. The rostrum when seen from the side shows a very slight 
upward curvature. The notch in the jaw which should receive the first mandibu¬ 
lar tooth is feebly developed, being scarcely perceptible; the notch or constric¬ 
tion in the jaw which received the fourth mandibular tooth is, however, well 
developed. The teeth, the base or sockets of eleven of which are preserved, are 
sub-equal in size, showing but slight differentiation. Five teeth are present in 
each premaxillary. The first three maxillary teeth are strong; the fourth, how¬ 
ever, is reduced and the jaw at this point is slightly constricted for the recep¬ 
tion apparently of two strong mandibular teeth. Back of the fourth maxillary 
tooth the rostrum is again expanded, the fifth and sixth maxillary teeth being 
strong. Between these teeth is seen a distinctly marked pit for the reception 
of a mandibular tooth. 
The presence of a gavial in this formation is of interest; it af¬ 
fords evidence of the existence of gavials in North America as late 
as the Miocene or early Pliocene, although they have since disap¬ 
peared from the Western Hemisphere, the modern gavials being 
found in Asia and Africa. 
100 
