CATALOGUE OF SHIELD REPTILES. 



17 



c and d. Young and adult (stuffed). Pinang, Singapore. 

 Mr. Wallace's Collection. 



Fouiiff. Head and neck brown, with a large irregular 

 yellow spot on each side of the nape. Costal shield with a 

 small spine in the hinder edge of each areola. 



The forehead covered with large, the occiput and the 

 hinder part of the branches of the lower jaw with smaller, 

 flat, symmetrical plates, which are more distinct in the 

 younger specimens. 



•ff Toes short, strong, covered ahove with transverse shields, 

 united htj a scaly weh to the claws ; claws curved. 



3. NICORIA. 



Head covered with a thin horny skin ; forehead narrow. 

 Eyes very large, rather close, subsuperior. Upper beak very 

 strong, acute. Legs strong, not fringed beliind, covered 

 with thick triangular scales, forming a series on the outer 

 side of the front. Toes very short, united, free just at 

 the end, covered above with band-like shields. Hind 

 foot narrow, with a very obscure rudiment of a fifth toe, 

 only to be seen in the skeleton or in the dry contracted 

 state. Claws .5 • 4, curved. Shell depressed, three-keeled ; 

 areola of dorsal shield posterior, marginal ; hinder edge 

 strongly toothed. Sternum solid, broad, truncated before, 

 nicked behind ; shields six pair, subcqual ; pectoral shields 

 broad, square ; gular small ; axillary and inguinal plates 

 rudimentary or wanting. Africa. 



1. Nicoria Spengleri. Spengler's Nicoria. 



Shell oblong, depressed, pale brown, three-keeled ; keels 

 continuous, distant, black-edged ; hinder edge deeply ser- 

 rated ; vertebral shields quadrate ; sternum black, yellow- 

 edged. Animal olive, red dotted, with a white streak on 

 each side of the neck. 



Testudo Spengleri, Walb. Berlin Naturf. vi. 122. t. 3. 



Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. 1043. 

 Emys Spengleri, Baud. R. ii. 103. 



Schweiff. Prod. 310. 



Merreni, Am ph. 23. 



Gray, Syn. 21. 



Bum. ^- Bib. Erp. Gen. ii. 308 ; Cat. Meth. R. 15. 

 Geoemyda Spengleri, Gray, Proc. Zool. Sac. 1834 ; Cat. 



Tort. B.M. 14. 

 Testudo serrata, Shaw, Zool. iii. 50. t. 9. 

 T. serpentina, var., Latr. Rept. i. 1G3. 

 T. tricarinata, Bory, Voy. Isl. Afric. Atlas, t. 37. f. 1. 

 Chelonura serpentina (part.), Bonaj). Ohs. Cuv. R. A. 171. 



Hab. Africa? China. 



a. Adult ; animal dry (shell lost two scales) ; 3^ inches. 

 China. Presented by John Russell Reeves, Esq. 



c. Adult (in spirits). From the Zoological Society. 



Osteology : — 



b. Half-grown shell ; the ossification incomplete on the 

 entire circumference. Africa. 



Schlegel, in the Fauna Japonica, confounds Em^js cras- 

 sicollis, E. Thurgi, E. Reevesii and Cistudo dentata with 

 this species, but they do not even belong to the same natural 

 genus. It appears to be rave on the Continent, as it is 

 wanting in the Paris and Leyden Museums. 



Latreille and Prince Bonaparte confound this species with 

 Chelonura serpentina. 



4. GEOCLEMYS. 



Head moderate, covered with a thin hard skin ; forehead 

 flat ; cheeks perpendicular. Eyes lateral. Chin not bearded. 

 Fore-legs covered with broad lunate scales. Toes short, 

 strong, covered with transverse shields above, slightly 

 webbed. Claws 5 • 4. Tail moderate. Shell depressed. 

 Sternum solid, broad, truncated before, nicked behind ; 

 aftixed to the thorax by a bony symphysis, covered by the 

 ends of the pectoral and abdominal plates ; axillary and 

 inguinal plates moderate, distinct. Asiatic and American. 

 Emys, sp., Brongniart and others. 



This genus contains the more terrestrial and solid-shelled 

 Terrapens with webbed feet ; their head is more square and 

 flat-topped than in their more aquatic congeners ; and they 

 have the eyes on the side of the face. The skull is square, 

 with a broad flat forehead ; the orbits being placed quite 

 on the side of the head and not interrupting the outline of 

 the forehead, as in the more aquatic Emydes. 



These animals are essentially aquatic, but often leave the 

 water for months together. They are very active and 

 restless. 



* Back three-keeled : keels interrupted, nodose. 



** Back three-keeled; keels continued. 



*** Back one-keeled ; shields radiate, concentrically grooved. 



**** Back not keeled, depressed; shields thin, spotted. 



* Back three-keeled, spotted; areolce rugose, each ivith a 

 very broad nodose longitudinal ridge; hinder edge 

 entire or subdentate. Asiatic. 



1. Geoclemys Hamiltonii. Hamilton's Emys. 



Shell oblong, convex, solid, with three interrupted keels, 

 slightly toothed behind, black, yellow-rayed ; shield con- 

 vex, areola rugose, with a large irregular central keel ; 



