50 CHELONIAD.E. 



et Cuv. Os. Fos. v. t. 12, f. 47, Anat, Test. Dura, 

 Hamilton, Icon. ined. (v. Icon. Mus. Ind.) Illust. Ind. 

 Zool. t. 



Junior. Obscure viridi, maculis subrotundis irregularibus 

 luteis nigro marginatis ornata; capite supra albo maculato, 

 genis albo lineatis. Illust. Ind. Zool. t. , f. . 



Habit, in Indiee fluvio Ganges. 



The vertebral bones vary from 6 to 9 ; the hinder callo- 

 sities are united only in the adult animals, and hence Cuvier 

 considers it to have 6 callosities, and GeofFroy 7. 



M. Cuvier, in his late visit to London, informed me that 

 they have just received at the French Museum a new species 

 of this family, that has four claws to each of its feet. I may 

 be permitted provisionally to call this the Trionyx Cuvieri. 



Fam. V. CHELONIAD^. 



Pedes pinneeformes compressi unguibus sub-obsoletis ; 

 caput globosum, maxillge corneae. Testae margines osseae; 

 sternum annuhforme symphysi cartilaginea testae adnexum. 



The head is globose, and the nostrils subtubular in the 

 young state ; the jaws are horny and naked, the neck short ; 

 the shell is low, cordate, with a defined bony margin, and 

 covered with a leathery skin or horny shields. The ster- 

 num is only attached to the upper shell by a cartilaginous 

 suture ; the feet are compressed and fin -shaped, sometimes 

 clawed, the front pair are much the longest ; the tail is short 

 and thick. 



In the bony structure, the muzzle is short and the orbits 

 large, the nasal cavity is very small, and most of the bones 

 of the skull are united together into one ; the ribs of the 

 shell are only united together for a short space, which 

 lengthens as the animal increases in age, and the margin is 

 formed of a continuous series of bones. The bones of the 

 sternum form a ring, the centre being supplied by cartilage ; 

 they are placed in a similar manner to those of the former 

 family, except that the front of the ring is formed by the 

 slender front pair of bones which has the central bone in 

 the form of a lanceolate process on the inner edge. 



Living in the seas of the Torrid and Temperate Zones, as 

 far as latitude 50^*. Some eating algae and marine vegetables, 

 and others molluscous and radiated animals. 



