8 CHELONIA. 



irregularly quadrangular, the anterior side being twice as long as the posterior, whilst the 

 two lateral ones are nearly equal in length ; the notch between them is triangular, with the 

 inner angle somewhat obtuse. 



Head. — The upper jaAv is armed Avith three strong teeth anteriorly, and indistinctly 

 denticulated on the sides ; crown of the head with symmetrical shields ; a large shield 

 between the eye and the tympanal margins. 



Feet. — The scales on the inner edge of the front extremities are smaller than those on the 

 outer. Only four claws anteriorly. 



Colour. — Pale, varied with blackish, especially on the lower side, the black colour- being 

 distributed in the direction of the strise of the plates. 



This species is known to me only from a single specimen in the British Museum. It is 

 found in Afghanistan, and resembles T. groeca, the habits of both probably being alike. A 

 di-awing made from a Nepalese specimen, and presented by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., to the 

 British Museum, appears to represent this tortoise; if the determination be correct, this 

 species would extend to Nepal. 



It has been suggested that this species is identical with T. ibera. Pall. Zoogr. Ross. -As. iii. 

 p. 18, but there is nothing in Pallas's description to prove the correctness of this opinion. 



Testudo elongata. The Burmese Tortoise. 



Testudo elongata, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. sxii. 1853, p. 639. Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856, 

 p. 181. pi. 9, and Ann. ^- Mag. Nat. Hist. 1861, vi. p. 218. 



Form. — Shell elongate, ovate, rather broader posteriorly, flat superiorly, the three middle 

 vertebral plates lying nearly m a plane ; the lateral margins are nearly straight, the posterior 

 slightly reverted. It is nearly twice as broad as high, its greatest depth being one-third of 

 its length, or equal to the width of the sternum between the front incisions. The upper 

 shell has no notch anteriorly. The sternum is truncated in front, and has a deep acutan- 

 gular incision posteriorly ; it is a little broader between the hinder incisions than between 

 the anterior. The female and the young have the shell less elongate than the male. 



Plates. — The plates are rather smooth, with the concentric strise not very deeply marked. 

 The areolae of the vertebral plates are in the centre, those of the others excentrical. There 

 is a very long and narrow nuchal plate ; the last vertebral is as broad as the caudal. Gular 

 plates broader than long, the sum of their posterior angles being more than a right angle. 

 Postgulars rather longer than pectorals. Abdominal as broad as long. Anal plates triangular, 

 entirely separated by a deep notch. 



Head.—'n\e upper jaw is armed with three sharply prominent teeth, separated by two 

 vertical grooves running upwards to the nostrils. There are three shields on the upper 



