Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/501

CROCODILE 497 catch prey, but often come out to bask in the sun ; they fish chiefly by night, and when eat- ing make a loud champing noise. The natives are very fond of the eggs, eating only the yolk. The Egyptians kept crocodiles in their temples, where they were fed by the priests and ornamented with gold and precious stones ; these were highly venerated by the people, and after death they were carefully embalmed and buried with great ceremony; it is very common to find mummies of crocodiles in their tombs, and many may be seen in our museums. The ichneumon, a carnivorous mammal allied to the civets, renders important service to man by destroying the eggs of the Nilotic crocodile. The common crocodile is not confined to Africa, but occurs in Asia, es- pecially on the Malayan peninsula ; it is often met with three or four miles at sea, and has been known to attack boats returning from fishing, and occasionally with the loss of hu- man life. II. The most common Asiatic spe- cies is the double-crested crocodile (C. Mpor- catus, Cuv.), so named from the two rough lines on the upper jaw extending forward from the anterior angle of each eye. The lateral Double-crested Crocodile (Crocodilus biporcatus). borders are irregularly convex, and deeply grooved for the lower teeth ; the upper surface is very rough, especially in large individuals ; the teeth are generally 66, 36 above and 30 below, the largest being the 2d, 3d, 8th, and 9th above, and the 1st and 4th below; the hind legs are as long as the trunk, the fore legs are a third shorter ; the armature of the neck consists of 6 shields, 4 in a square, and 1 on each side of these, of an oval shape and strongly crested; on the back are 16 or 17 transverse rows of ridged plates, of an ovoid form ; the tail has 38 or 40 scaly rings, double- crested for half its length. The color is yel- lowish green, with black oval spots above. It grows to a length of at least 20 ft. In Gi- ronire's " Twenty Years in the Philippines " is an account of the capture of an immense in- dividual of this species, measuring 27 ft. in length and 11 ft. in circumference under the armpits; the skull of this specimen is now in the cabinet of the Boston society of natural history, and measures nearly 4 ft. from the nose to the end of the lower jaw ; the head and soft parts attached weighed over 400 Ibs. It is found in most of the rivers and lakes of eastern Asia and the Indian archipelago. III. The lozenged crocodile {C. rhombifer, Cuv.) of the "West Indies has the forehead surmounted by two ridges diverging backward, the upper jaw much arched transversely, the jaws narrow, the body thick, the toes and swimming mem- branes short, the scales of the flanks, sides, and upper part of the neck tuberculated, and the limbs without serrated crests ; the sides of the upper jaw are very prominent between the 6th and llth teeth; the teeth are 64, 34 above and 30 below, the largest being the 2d and 7th in the upper jaw, and the 4th and 10th in the lower ; on the nape are 4 small shields in one row, and on the neck 6 oval ridged plates, 4 in a row and 2 behind these ; dorsal scales square, in 18 transverse rows. The general color is dark brown above with zigzag lines of deep yellow, and spots of the same on the flanks and limbs ; yellow and chestnut below. It at- tains a considerable size. IV. The long-nosed crocodile (C. acutus, Geoff.) is found in the West Indies, particularly in Hayti, and in the northern parts of South America ; it has also been found on the coast of Florida. It is characterized by its lengthened muzzle, convex forehead, and the irregular disposition of the outer dorsal scales ; the hind feet are strongly webbed ; on the nape are 2 or 4 shields, and on the neck 6, as in the Nilotic species ; the teeth 66, 36 above and 30 below, the longest being the 4th and -10th in the upper jaw, and the 4th in the lower. The color is brown and yellow above and yellow below. It is said to grow to a length of 20 ft. The C. cataphractus (Cuv.) and C. Journei (Bory de St. Vincent) form the connecting links between the croco- dile and the gavial. Crocodilians existed in great variety in former geological epochs, and in countries further north than the present habitats of these reptiles. The most remark- able difference between the fossil and existing species is in the form of the vertebrae ; the ex- isting crocodilians have these bodies concave in front and convex behind, and the same is true of the species of the tertiary epoch ; but the fossils of the older strata have the vertebral bodies flat, or biconcave, as in fishes, or else the anterior face convex and the posterior con- cave, just the opposite to the existing forms. Those of the tertiary epoch are generally found in fresh-water deposits, and near the mouths of supposed rivers, so that their habits were then probably the same as now; they have been found as far north as England and France, in Asia, and in the greensand of New Jersey. During the secondary period there existed crocodilians with flat or biconcave vertebras, resembling gavials in their lengthened crani- um; from their stronger armature, more nu- merous ribs, and the strata in which they have been found, they were probably marine. Among the genera are teleosaurus (Geoff), mystriosaurus (Kaup), macrospondylus (H. von Meyer), gnathosaurus (H. von Meyer), &c., found in the liassic, oolitic, and calcareous