126 Stejneger — Generic Names of Some Chelyid Turtles. 



sification der Reptilien, 1826, p. 6, Fitzinger says that " Oppel 

 indicated the separation of Emj/s lonyicoUis and its consorts 

 which I include in my genus Chelodiwa.'' Hydrasjns, therefore, 

 is only a synonym of Chdndina and must disappear as a valid 

 generic term. 



The question now arises as to the proper name for the genus 

 currently known by this term. 



In 1830 Wagner (Syst. Amph., p. 134) established the genus 

 Rhinemys for four species, viz.: Emys rvjipes Spix; E. nasvta 

 Schweigger; E . radiolata Mikan ; and £■. r/Z/j/^aSchweigger, with- 

 out designating any type. This was done in 1843 by Fitzinger 

 (Syst. Rept., p. 29) who specifically designated Rhinemys rvfipes 

 Wagler as the type. Wagler in the same ]iublication, but on a 

 subsequent page (Syst. Amph., 1830, p. 13o), established the 

 monotypic genus PInynops for Emys genfrotiua. These two spe- 

 cies have since proved to be congeneric, and one of the generic 

 terms applied to them must serve for the combined genus. Here 

 Art. 28 of the International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature 

 provides as follows: "A genus formed l)y tlic union of two or 

 more genera or subgenera takes the oldest valid generic or sul)- 

 generic name of its components. If the names are of the same 

 date, that selected by the first reviser shall stand." The first 

 reviser in this case was J. E. Gray (Cat. Tortois. , Brit. Mus. , 1844, 

 p. 41), who included lioth E. geoffroana and E. rujipes in the 

 same genus, for whicii he selected Phrynops as the name, at the 

 same time distinctly giving "'Phrynops and Rhinemys Wagler" 

 as synonyms. This action consequently " shall stand," to use 

 the phrase of tlie International Rules. 



By this combined action of Fitzinger and Gray the genus 

 represented V)y Schweigger's Emys nasnUi. is deprived of a valid 

 name. Boulenger (Cat. Chel. Brit. Mus., 1889, p. 217) applied 

 to it Wagler's name Rhinemys, l)ut as we have seen, the type of 

 the latter, as designated l)y Fitzinger, is E. rvjipes. Tiiere being 

 no other name avaihU)le 1 {)ropose to call this genus Batrach= 

 emys (from ^arpdxos, frog; euvs, turtle). 



The synonymies of these genera, as here mentioned, would 

 then stand as follows: 



Chelodina Fitzinger. 

 1826. Chelodina Fitzinger, Neue Classif. Rept., p. 6 (type, by 

 orig. desig. Emys longicoUis). 



