DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE 



OF 



THE REPTILES OF BRITISH INDIA. 



Reptiles proper (excluding Batrachia) are cold-blooded 

 vertebrata, which undergo no metamorphosis, and breathe air by 

 lungs, during their whole existence. They are divided into three 

 orders — Chelonia, Sauria, and Ophidia. 



Order Chelonia. 



Reptile-s with bones of the thorax united into a solid shield. 

 This shield is formed by the more or less complete anchylosis of 

 the vertebrae and ribs, and is termed the carapace. In some 

 families the thorax and sternum, or lower plate, are united into 

 one bony case ; in others, the union of thorax and sternum is car- 

 tilaginous only. Cervical and caudal vertebrae alone free and 

 mobile. Occipital condyle .single. Reproductive organ of male 

 single, and lodged within the vesico-genital cloaca, with a 

 seminal groove only ; the urinary products being passed with the 

 faeces per cloacam. Oviparous. Vent circular. Food — vegetable, 

 animal, or mixed. 



Family Testudinid^. 



Terrestrial chelonians, with thick clubbed feet, adapted for 

 walking on land. Herbivorous. Hind feet of some species partly 

 webbed. Thorax and sternum united into a solid bony case. 

 Sternum concave in males, fiat in females. Habits terrestrial, 

 only occasionally resort to water. Herbivorous. Eggs white, 

 cylindrical, hard shelled. 



