1.8 Crocodylus

This is the skull of an extant crocodile.

Above: Skull of Crocodylus, seen from above and to the left.

 

Above: Skull of Crocodylus, seen from above.

 

Above: Skull of Crocodylus, seen from below.

Identify the nasal openings and eye sockets. Identify the three tooth bearing bones – premaxilla, maxilla and dentary.

Can you find the rounded ‘occipital condyle’ at the back of the skull where it would have articulated with the first neck vertebra? Just above this is the ‘foramen magnum’ – the opening where the spinal cord enters the skull and joins the brain.

 

Above: Skull of Crocodylus, seen from behind (the skull roof is below and palate uppermost).
 

We will be revisiting crocodiles again and in more detail in a later practical.

Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike 3.0 License

'Vertebrate Palaeontology and Evolution' has been released as an open educational resource (OER) on a Creative Commons 'Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike' license. This means that once downloaded, content can be modified and improved to complement a particular course. This requires, however, that improvements are recycled back into the OER community. All content present at the time of download must be accordingly credited and, in turn, novel content must be appropriately licensed. For more information, please refer to the license deed by clicking on the link above.