CATALOGUE OF SHIELD REPTILES. 



23 



/. Young (in spirits). Upper margin with a large pale 

 ring, and lower with two black spots on each ring. 

 Banks of the Euphrates. 



m. Young (in spirits). Marginal plates with a subcentral 

 black-edged pale band above, and a largo square sutural 

 spot beneath, sometimes separated into a twin spot 

 divided at the suture. Xanthus. I'resented by Sir 

 Charles Fellows. 



Osteology : — 



a. Adult shell; \\ inches. Shell and sternum pale, worn. 

 Europe. Presented by Thomas Bell, Esq. 



e, /. Adult skeletons and shell. Claws all elongate ; 

 sternum black. Mr. Alexander's Collection. 



h. Young shell, with three nodulose keels ; sternum black ; 

 2\ inches. South Europe. Presented bv Dr. J. E. 

 Gray. 



Griffith, d. K.t. .t . 



The sternum becomes pale and worn when the animal is 

 kept in confinement. The front of the fore legs with 

 several series of broad lunate scales on the inner side, and 

 two series of large ovate elongate convex scales on the outer 

 edge. Skull depressed, broad ; forehead flat ; nose trun- 

 cated ; cheeks nearly perpendicular ; orbits nearly entirely 

 lateral ; lower jaw narrow. 



There is perhaps more than one species combined under 

 this name, or the pattern of the marks on the young is 

 subject to considerable variation, which can only be decided 

 by the study of more specimens than we at present possess. 



Mr. Bell observes that the Testudo Eurojxsa is a species 

 of Terrnpene ; if so, the name of it should be changed, as 

 it is certainly the Emys of the ancients. — Gray, Ann. Phil. 

 1825. 



ttt African. 



10. Emys laticeps. The Gambian Terrapen. 

 Tab. IX. 



Shell pale olive, yellowish beneath ; sides rounded ; 

 hinder lateral margin rather expanded and recurved ; binder 

 end rather compressed above; plates thin, transparent, in- 

 ferior plates with a narrow black edge. Head large, short, 

 broad, covered with a smooth skin ; fore legs and neck with 

 very narrow yellow lines when alive. 



Emvs laticeps, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853 ; Ann. ^- Mog. 

 Nat. Ilist. 1855, xv. 68. 



Hab. AVest Africa; Gambia. 



a, b, c, (1, e. Adult. West Africa. Mr. Castany's Col- 

 lection. 



Eyes sublateral, near end of nose. Feet broadly webbed. 



The front of the large legs with two series of broad square 

 scales on the inner, and two or three series of larger, more 

 oblong scales on the outer edge. 



Somewhat like E. olivacea, but the shell is more convex ; 

 and the vertebrae, as seen through the plates, are consider- 

 ably wider. 



What is Emys Bonensis, Schlegel, in Mailer, Verhand. ? 



11. Emys ocxilifera. The Eyed Emys. 

 Shell (very young) hemispherical, strongly toothed be- 

 hind ; shields elevated, furrowed, granulated, grooved, each 

 two connected longitudinally by a largish round black spot, 

 and horizontally by a largish black circle, consequently 

 each displaying two half-eyes, and anteriorly and poste- 

 riorly two half-spots ; margin with a spot on each suture, 

 the points of which correspond with the spot on the 

 costal shield ; sternum yellow, with dark brown spots and 

 streaks. 



Emys oculifera, Gray, Syn. 22 ; Cat. Tort. B.M. 28. 

 Testudo oculifera, Kuhl, Beitr. 77. 



Hah. South Africa; Cape of Good Hope ? Mus. Berlin. 



tttt North American. 



Several of the American Terrapenes have the claws of 

 the front feet much elongated, especially the three central 

 ones ; but this does not appear to be a permanent character ; 

 for it is found in some specimens, and not in others of the 

 same species. 



It may be observed, that the North American species of 

 this genus require to be revised and accurately compared, 

 as their present descriptions and the figures which have 

 hitherto been published of them are often very unsatis- 

 factory. 



* The dorsal shields variegated or ringed; the marginal 

 shields tcith two half rings, the centre being on the suture. 



§ The dorsal {vertebral and costal) shields with a single 

 concentric set of rings or spots on each. 



§§ The costal shield ivith a subcentral, transverse, pale 

 streak, surrounded with irregular dark lines. 



§§§ The costal shield with a single, subcentral, forked, pale, 

 transverse, irregular streak, 



** The dorsal shields variegated or ringed; the marginal shield 

 with a single spot or ring, with the centre on its hinder 

 edge. 



*** Back uniform. 



