CATALOGUE OF SHIELD REPTILES. 



55 



tt Neck nearly smooth. Lower part of hind legs rounded 

 in front, and covered with five or six rather larger 

 convex scales, the last heeled. First vertebral plate 

 almost as wide as the others. Rhinemys. 



Rhinemys, part., Wagler. 



Dumml and Bibron separate the species belonging to 

 this section thus, showing the very slight characters which 

 divide them : — 



I. Back keeled the whole length. 



* Sternum reddish. 6. H. r^ifipes. 



** Sternum brown, ends yellow. 4. H. nasuta. 

 II. Back interruptedly keeled. 



* Sternum black-spotted. 12. H. St. Hilairii. 

 ** Sternum not spotted. 1-1. H. Geoffroyana. 



III. Back keeled on the last three plates. 3. H. gihba. 



IV. Back not keeled. 



* Discal shieldsconcentrically andradiatelystriated. 



9. H. radiolata. 

 ** Discal shields longitudinally striated ; sternum 

 black, yellow-edged. 1 1 . 77. Gaudichuudii. 

 *** Discal shields smooth. 



f Sternum yellow ; thorax brown, uniform. 5. 

 H. Wagleri. 

 •ff Sternum yellow ; thorax brown, black-rayed. 

 8. H. depressa. 

 ttt Sternum brown, yellow-edged. 7. H. Miliusii. 



* Animal one-coloured. 



2. Hydraspis raniceps. The Toad-headed Hydraspis. 

 Tab. XXIII. 



Shell oblong, depressed, middle of the back flat, margin 

 very broad in front, narrow and bent up on the sides, 

 broader and arched over the hind legs ; first vertebral shield 

 large, as wide as long ; third and fourth narrow, longer 

 than broad ; fourth and fifth with an acute keel on the 

 hinder edge. Sternum rather broad. Head very large ; 

 crowu and temple covered with small shields ; ears promi- 

 nent ; neck smooth ; lower part of the outer edge of the 

 hind leg with four larger scales, the last compressed, largest. 



Hab. Brazils ; Para. 



a. Adult (stuffed). First vertebral plate nearly square, 

 two last vertebral plates keeled. Brazils ; Para. Mr. 

 Bates's Collection. 



Osteology : — 



h. Adult (skeleton). First vertebral plate broader, con- 

 siderably broader in front than behind ; last vertebral 

 plates not keeled. From Mus. Paris. 



" Platemys Spixii." Mus. Paris. 



This species is very like H. gibba, but the back is more 

 depressed, the margin much wider ; the head nearly double 

 the size, compared with the size of the body ; the scales 

 on the margin of the hind legs larger and more equal-sized, 

 and the scales of the head small, more numerous and more 

 equal in size. See Proc. Zool. Sac. 1853. 



3. Hydraspis gibba. The Black Hydraspis. 

 Shell black, ovoid, middle of the back convex ; discal 

 plates sUghtly striated, the last three vertebral plates tu- 

 bercularly keeled behind ; costals flat ; sternum brown, 

 varied with yellow on the edge. Head moderate, covered 

 with many small symmetrical plates. The crown with five 

 elongated shields, two in front and two behind, and one 

 central ; the two front shields produced in front nearly 

 to the back edges of the orbits. 



Hydraspis gibba. Gray, Cat. Tort. B.M. 40. 



Emys ^\\)h9.,-Schioeig. Prod. 299. no. 7. ^ 



Rhinemys gibba, Wagler, Syst. 135. 



Platemys gibba, Diim. ^ Bib. Erp. Gen. ii. 416. t. 20. f. 2 ; 



Cat'.Meth. R. 20. 

 Hydraspis cayennensis /3, Gray, Syn. 42. 



Hab. South America. 



a. Adult (stuffed). The lower part of the outer edge of 

 the hind-legs with three or four rather larger scales, 

 the last much larger and keeled ; caudal plates higher 

 than long. "Madagascar?" From M. Parzudaski's 

 Collection. 



4. Hydraspis nasuta. Schweigger's Hydraspis. 



Shell roundish oblong, much depressed, keeled, waved, 

 fulvous, hinder edge yellow ; sternum brown, sides and ends 

 yellow. Head depressed ; crown separated from the fore- 

 head by a straight line, with five nearly equal-sized shields, 

 two in front and behind, and one in the centre between 

 them. 



Hydraspis nasuta. Gray, Cat. Tort. B.M. 40. 



Emys nasuta, Schweig. Prod. 298. no. 4. 



Platemys Schweiggerii, Dum. ^ Bib. Erp. Gin. ii. 435 ; 



Cat. MHh. jB. 21. 

 Emys platycephala, var., Schlegel, Faun. Japan. 46. 

 Rhinemys nasuta, Wagler, Syst. 134. 



Hab. South America. Mus. Paris (one specimen). 



? a. Young (in spirits). Lower part of outer side of hinder 

 legs with four or five convex scales. Tropical America. 



The Museum specimen is very like what may be the 

 young of H. gibba, but the head shields are different. 



