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The Ferocious Crocodile
ONES of a race of im- it was covered with plates on its under mense Crocodiles have side as well as on its back. Though it been found, which existed was longer and more slender than the before the time of man - Crocodile of the Ganges, and the vertebræ of its back-bone were united by flat plates instead of a ball and socket, it resembled it more than any other animal. those bone-plated reptiles which the German geologist Cotta describes as the great barons of the The Crocodile has no lips; so that even kingdom of Neptune, armed to when walking or swimming with the the teeth and clothed in im- utmost tranquillity, the teeth are bare, penetrable armor; the true fili- and the aspect seems animated by rage. busters of the primitive seas. Another circumstance that contributes The Teleosaurus has an anatom- to increase the terrific appearance of its ical resemblance to some of the present countenance is the fiery glare of its eyes; reptiles of India. They inhabited the and these, being situated near each other, banks of rivers, perhaps the sea itself; have also a malignant aspect. they were longer, more slender and more The armor with which the Crocodile is active than the living species; they were clad may be accounted among the most about thirty feet in length, of which the elaborate pieces of natural mechanism. head was from three to four feet, with In the full-grown animal it is so strong their enormous jaws well defended be- as easily to repel a musket-ball. On the yond the ears, sometimes with an opening lower parts it is much thinner and more of six feet, through which they could pliable than on the upper. The whole engulf, in the depths of their enormous animal appears as if covered with the most throat, animals of the size of an ox. regular and curious carved work. The In the river Ganges, in India, there is a color of the full-grown Crocodile is blackhuge reptile called the gavial, distin- ish-brown above, and yellowish-white guished from the Egyptian Crocodile by beneath. The upper parts of the legs the extraordinary shape of head and jaws; and sides are varied with deep yellow, there is no other living species of Croco- somewhat tinged with green. The mouth dile like it; but Britain once possessed a is of vast width and furnished with Crocodile resembling that of the Ganges, numerous sharp-pointed teeth, thirty or and of even larger dimensions. The more on each side of the jaws; and these Teleosaurus was a reptile of that remote are so disposed as, when the mouth is period that preceded the age of the great closed, to fit alternately above and below. elephants and tigers. Its teeth were The Crocodile and Alligator have the more numerous and set closer together largest mouths of almost any land animals. than those of the Egyptian Crocodile; and It has been asserted by various writers that both their jaws are movable. A much more embarrassed, and he is conse. single glance, however, at the skeleton quently there a less dangerous enemy will afford sufficient proof that the upper than in the water. jaw is fixed, and that the motion is altogether confined to the under one.
These animals are also generally believed to have no tongue. This, again, is an error, for the tongue in both species is larger than that of the ox; but it is so connected with the sides of the lower jaw as to be incapable of being stretched far forward, as in other animals. It is compelled to keep its tongue to itself.
In the water the Crocodile seems to enjoy his whole strength with much greater advantage than on land. Notwithstanding his size and his apparent unwieldiness, he moves about in the water with considerable agility, often emitting a kind of silent, half-suppressed murmuring noise. Although the great length of
