CUORA. 11 



costal plates are in the centre, whilst those of the first and fourth vertebral and costal plates 

 are excentric, approximate to the middle of the whole shell. The nuchal plate is broad ; the 

 last vertebral as broad as the caudal, which is divided into two by a longitudinal groove and 

 notched posteriorly in the middle. Nuchal plates broader than long. Gular plates irre- 

 gularly quadrangular, longer than broad, the sum of their posterior angles being more than 

 a right one ; the postgulars form a broad suture vsdth a pai't of the anterior margin of the 

 abdominals, and are tvdce as large as the pectorals, which are widely apart. Abdominals as 

 long as broad. Anals subrhomboid, the notch between their posterior edges being obtusan- 

 gular ; their inner edges form together a suture along the whole of theii- length. 



Head. — Of all the Indian specimens which I have seen, only the shell has been preserved, 

 so that I am obliged to give the description of the head, &c. from an Australian example, 

 the shell of which, however, perfectly agrees with those from the East Indies. The upper 

 jaw has no distinct denticulations. A pair of nasal and a pair of frontal shields, a vertical 

 and a temporal shield are distinguished by their larger size from the other small ones. 



Tail very short. 



Feet. — The forearm and the sole of the hind leg are covered with very large, projecting, 

 triangular scales, each transverse series on the front part of the forearm being formed by 

 three scales. Five claws anteriorly, four i^osteriorly. Three large conical spines on each 

 side of the tail below the hinder marginal plate, the middle spine being much the strongest. 



Colour. — Nearly uniform dark horn-brown. 



This species grows to a rather large size, the shell of a specimen in the British Museum 

 being \%\ inches long, 14 inches broad, and 7^ inches deep. It is found at Pinang, in 

 Arakan and the Tenasserim Provinces, in Java and Sumatra. A fine specimen in the col- 

 lection mentioned has been brought, on good authority, from the Murray River in Australia ! 

 Nothing is known of its habits. 



CUORA, Gray. 



Upper shell entirely bony. Sternum very broad, attached to the upper 

 shell by a ligamentous suture, and divided by a similar transverse suture 

 into two moveable lobes ; the cross suture corresponds to the middle of the 

 sterno-costal suture ; sternum concave in males, flat in females. Feet with 

 the web more or less developed, and with the front part covered with very 

 large scales. Claws strong, five anteriorly and four posteriorly. 



