8 



CATALOGUE OF SHIELD REPTILES. 



/. Animal and shell (stuffed) ; shield of the back conical, 

 convex, truncated, many-rayed. India. From the 

 Zoolcgical Society. 



Osteology : — 



e. Adult (shell only) ; 10 inches. Shields very high, trun- 

 cated. PhiUppines. 



))t. Adult (shell only); 10 inches. Shields flattish. India; 

 Madras. Presented by T. C. Jerdon, Esq. 



b. Half-grown (shell only). Shields flattish, black, with 



few yellow rays. 



n. Half-grown (shell only), like h. 



c. Young (upper shell only). Depressed, broad, pale ; nu- 



cleus very large, pale margin of shields blackish marked. 



(/ & o. Young. Nucleus moderate ; nucleus and margin 

 brown-edged, with foui- broad yellow rays. 



Tlie specimens c and d show the very different size of 

 the young of this species when they are first hatched, the 

 shell c being nearly twice as long and wide as d, and yet 

 the shields have only one or two rings round the nucleus, 

 while in d they have several. 



b. African. 

 7. Testudo geometrica. The Geometric Tortoise. 



Shell oblong, convex ; shields yellow, grooved, black- 

 rayed ; areola yellow, truncated ; nuchal shield long. 



Testudo geometrica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 353. 



Grai/, Spi. 12; Cat. Kept. li.M. 8. 



Bum. 8,- Bib. Erp. Gen. ii. 57 ; Cat. Mith. R. 3. 



Seba, Thes. t. 80. f. 8. 



Lacep. Q. O. t. 3. f. 2. 



S/iaiv, Zool. ii. t. 2. 



Schoepff. Test. t. 10. 



Band. Rept. t. 25. f. 1. 

 Psammobates geometricus, Fitz. Syst. Rept. 29 (1843). 

 Testudo (Psammobates) geometrica, Fitz. Syst. Schildk. 1 22. 

 Chersine geometrica, Merrem. • 



T. luteola. Baud. Rept. ii. 277. t. 25. f. 3. 

 T. tentoria. Bell, Zool. Journ. iii. 420. t. 24 ; Test. t. 1. 



Hab, Africa ; Cape of Good Hope ; Madagascar. 



/ ar. 1 . Shell oblong, elongate, narrow, discal plate flat or 

 concave ; sternum flat or concave, brown, rare ; nuchal 

 plate elongate, narrow ; caudal shield much incurved 

 (7". geometrica). 



I. Animal and shell (young) ; 2^ inches. Plates rather 

 convex. Cape of Good Hope. 



Osteology : — 



b, c, d. Shells only, various sizes, all wanting the front lobe 

 of sternum. South Africa. 



e. Wanting front lobe of sternum ; discal shields rather 

 convex. South Africa. Dr. Mantell's Collection. 



k. Shell (young) ; 2\ inches. Plates flattish. Cape of 

 Good Hope. 



Var. 1. tentoria. Shell oblong, ventricose ; sternum 

 convex, black-rayed ; nuchal plates elongate, narrow ; 

 shields convex, truncated ; caudal shield incurved, con- 

 vex (T. tentoria, Bell). 



Osteology : — 



a. Shell wanting the first lobe of sternum ; '\\ inches. 



South Africa. Mus. .Sloane. 

 /. Shell. Cape of Good Hope. Presented by Gen. Th. 



Hardwicke. 

 g. Shell only, wanting a few plates ; 5 inches. Vertebral 



shield very high. Cape of Good Hope. 



Far. 3. nigriventris. Shell oblong, ventricose ; sternum 

 convex, dark in the middle, white on the sides ; nuchal 

 plates short, truncated ; shields convex, often high, 

 truncated. 



m. Animal and shell (wanting discal plates). South Africa. 



h. Shell (adulf) ; 5j inches. Dorsal shields high, conical ; 

 caudal plate produced. Cape of Good Hope. Pre- 

 sented by Robert Brown, Esq. 



i&j. Shell (young). Dorsal shield rather convex; cau- 

 dal plate iuflexed. Cape of Good Hope. Presented 

 by Robert Brown, Esq. 



n. Shell (half-grown). South Africa. 



o. Animal aud shell (very young). Mauritius. Presented 

 by Lady Frances Cole. 



The specimen of Testudo luteola (Baud. Rept. t. 25) 

 in the Paris Museum is evidently a young shell of this spe- 

 cies, without any shields. 



There is no difference in the colour or in the size of the 

 areolEe of the three varieties ; the nuchal shield of the va- 

 riety tentoria is sometimes reduced to a linear transverse 

 band, and is very rarely quite deficient. 



Schlegel refers Testudo tentoria and Pyxis aranoides of 

 Bell to this species {Fauna Japonica). 



8. Testudo Verroxii. Verreaux's Tortoise. 

 Shell rather depressed, broad, brown, varied with broad, 

 black and narrow, pale yellow rays and spots ; beneath yel- 

 low, brown varied with a few black rays ; marginal shields 

 placed at an angle with respect to the costal shield ; nuchal 

 plate triangular ; discal plates simple, convex ; areola black, 

 with four yellow rays. Head above yellow ; feet with large 

 imbricate scales in front. 



Testudo Verroxii, A. Smith, Illustr. Zool. S. Africa, t. 8 <?, 

 worn. 



Gray, Cat. Rept. B. M. 9. 



Hab. South Africa. 



a. Animal and shell. South Africa. From Mr. Warwick's 

 Collection. 



This species chiefly differs from T. geometrica in being 

 more depressed, brown, with black and narrow yellow rays. 



