20 



CATALOGUE OF SHIELD REPTILES. 



Synopsis of Sections. 



* Back three-keeled J vertebral plates elongate, subtrigonal. 

 Asiatic. 



** BacJc three-keeled; vertebral plates broad, square. Asiatic. 



*** Back more or less one-keeled, often becoming keelless. Old 

 and New Worlds. 



* Back three-keeled; vertebral plates elongate, subtrigonal ; 

 areola of discal shields tvith a narrow longitudinal 

 ridge ; hinder edge suhdentate or entire. Asiatic. 



1. Emys crassicoUis. The Thick-necked Emys. 



Shell ovate, oblong, rather convex, black, slightly three- 

 keeled ; keels close ; vertebral plates elongate, six-sided ; 

 sides revolute, hinder edge serrated ; sternum flat, pale, 

 and keeled on the sides. Head and neck thick, black. 



Emys crassicoUis, Bell, MSS. in Grai/, Sijn. 21. t. 7. f. 3 ; 

 I'llust. hul. Zool. t. 9. f. 2 ; Cat. Tort. B.M. IG. 



Bum. i^- Bib. Erp. Gen. ii. 325 ; Cat. Meth. R. 14. 



Cantor, Cat. 3. 

 E. Spengleri, var., Schlegel, F. Japon. 51. 



Ilab. Sumatra and Pinang (Cantor, Cat. 3) ; Batavia, 

 Java {Quoy) ; Borneo {Schlegel). 



b. Animal and shell (half-grown; in spirits). Sumatra. 



From the Leyden Museum. 



c. Adult (stuffed). Keels on sides of sternum yellow. 



India. 



d. Adult (stuffed). Sternum uniform black. India. 



e. Half-grown (in spirits). Shell brown, having a bronzed 



appearance ; vertebral jjlates distorted. Head brown, 

 with a white spot over and rather before each eye, on 

 the side of the chin, and on each side of the nape, 

 surrounding the back edge of the tympanum, and in- 

 distinctly continued across the throat ; a small white 

 streak on the middle of the black tympanum. Su- 

 matra. Mr. Bartlett's Collection. 



Osteology : — 



a. Shell only ; A\ inches long. Sumatra. Presented by 

 Thomas Bell, Esq. 



/. Adult shell (very old). Ceylon. Presented by Dr. 

 Kelaart. 



Fore legs with large, irregular, transverse plates on the 

 inner side of the front, and a row of large, triangular, com- 

 pressed, keeled scales on the outer. Toes short, strong, 

 with a series of band-like scales above ; webs scaly. Hind 

 legs granular, with a few large scales on the outer, and 

 small close ones on the inner margin. 



"They are numerous in Pinang, inhabiting rivulets and 

 ponds in the valleys. The throat is whitish, and a small 

 white spot appears on each side of the occiput ; the verte- 

 bral keels and the lateral spines become obhterated with 



age. It feeds ou frogs, and also upon shell-fish and animal 

 offal, and is often taken by the angler with the hook." — 

 Cantor. 



M. Schlegel could never have observed Nicoria Spen- 

 gleri, or he would not have confounded it with this species. 



** Back three-keeled ; vertebral plates broad, square. 

 Asiatic. 



2. Emys trijuga. The Three-keeled Emys. Tab. IV. 



Shell convex, oval, brown, three-keeled ; keels rather in- 

 terrupted ; margin slightly toothed ; shields rugose, areola 

 marginal, posterior, rugose ; first vertebral plate five-sided, 

 keeled, rather narrower behind ; others six-sided, rather 

 longer than broad ; sternum rather convex on the sides, 

 blackish. Head brown, with a yellow streak over each eye ; 

 beaks yellow-varied. 



Emys trijuga, Schweig. Prod. 310. 



" Dum.\ Bib. Erp. Gen. ii. 310 ; Cat. Meth. R. 15. 

 Gray, Cat. Tort. B.M. 16. 

 E. Belangeri, Lesson, Voij. Ind. 291, young. 

 Testudo scabra, Shaw, Zool. iii. 55, from Seba, i. 1 26. t. 79. 

 f. 1, 2. 



Hub. India ; Pondicherry ; Malabar ; Bengal ; ponds at 

 Calcutta. 



a. Adult (animal and shell). Under side of marginal 



shield and edge of sternum 3ellow ; dorsal keels black. 

 Compared with the specimens iu the Paris ^luseuni. 

 Presented by Dr. J. E. Gray. 



Osteology. Tab. XXXVIl. f. 2, skulls. 



c. Adult skeleton. Margin of shell revolute. Head 

 narrow, rather small (a female?). From the Leyden 

 Collection. 



" Emys subtrijuga, Mies. Leyden." 



b. Adult skeleton. Under side of margin and edge of ster- 



num black ; dorsal keels yellow ; margin of shell not 

 revolute. Head broad, large ; forehead rather convex, 

 (a male?). India. From the Vienna Museum. 



" Emvs Hermanni," Schw. ? Mus. Vienna. 



Skull depressed ; forehead flat, rather convex over the 

 orbits ; sides of the face slightly shelving ; cheeks and 

 temples rather convex ; orbits large, sUghtly intruding on 

 the outline of the forehead. 



3. Emys nigricans. The Blackish Emys. Tab. VI. 



Shell ovate, oblong, rather convex, revolute on the sides 

 and slightly toothed behind, brown, shghtly three-keeled, 

 the central keel prominent, blunt, interrupted in front and 

 contiimed behind, the lateral keels far apart, indistinct 



