Genus 6. RHYNCHOSUCHUS.
There are twenty teeth above, and eighteen or nineteen below, on each
side; the mandibular symphysis extends to the fifteenth tooth. The
posterior teeth of the upper jaw, and almost all those of the lower jaw,
are received into interdental pits; the orbital margins are not raised;
and the premaxillæ are hardly at all expanded. The premaxillo-maxillary
suture does not reach the third tooth behind the notch.
I propose the name _Rhynchosuchus_ to indicate that generic type which
is at present represented by the solitary species called by Müller
and Schlegel _Crocodilus_ (_Gavialis_) _Schlegelii_, and admirably
described and figured by them in their essay, 'Over de Krokodilen van
der Indischen Archipel,' in the 'Verhandelingen over de natuurlijke
Gesch. der Nederl. overzee. Bezittingen,' 1839-1844. Under the title
_Crocodilus_ (_Gavialis_) _Schlegelii_ (p. 18), they say--"The Gavial
from Borneo, when compared with the Indian one, is principally
distinguished by the following characters:--
"1. By its stronger form and better developed limbs.
2. By its much less slender head and snout, which last does not narrow
so suddenly in front of the eyes as in _G. Gangeticus_.
3. By the smaller number of teeth, of which there are twenty above and
eighteen below on each side, while _G. Gangeticus_ has 28/26 or
27/25; furthermore, the teeth are stouter, less curved, and less
sharp, and are disposed more perpendicularly, and the ninth tooth of the
upper jaw (reckoning from the front) is considerably larger and stronger
than the others; whence it follows that, just as in the true Crocodiles,
the snout at the level of this tooth exhibits a lateral projection.