CATALOGUE OF SHIELD REPTILES. 



h. StufFed Tadult ; not in good state). West Indies; Nevis. 

 Presented by W. Cottle, Esq. 



c, d. In spirits (young). ^ 



Rondeletius {De Pise. Mar. 4.11) thought that it was 

 from the bones of this animal that the ancients formed 

 their lyres, and for this reason it was called the Luth by 

 Lacepede ; but the remains of the Greek lyre in the British 

 Museum are evidentlv formed from bones of Testudo grieca. 



A skull labelled T. coriacea, from the Pacific Ocean, 

 presented by Mr. Collie to the Haslar Museum, is so like 

 that of C. Midas, as not to be distinguished from it ; the 

 hole of the ear appears rather rounder than in the other 

 skull, but very slightly so. 



b. Shell covered with horny shields. Chelonina. 



Cheloniadse, Gray, Ann. Phil. x. 212 (182.5) 



Bell, Zonl. Journ. iii. 516 (1828). 

 Chelonife, TT'ief/mann ^- Ruthe, Handb. Zool. 165. 



Fifz. Sysi. Rejjf. 30. 

 Chelonina, Bonap. Sagyio Anim. Vert. 13 (1832); Tub. 



Anrihjt. 11 (183fi). 

 Caretta, Merrem, Tent. 17. 



Carettoe, Rit:en, Nov. Act. Acad. Nut. Cur. xiv. 269 (1828). 

 Chelonia, JT'agler, Sysf. Rept. 133. 



Bum. 4'- Bib. Erp. Gen. ii. 538. 

 Chelone, Ritze.i, Nov. Act. Acad. Nat. Cur. xiv. 269(1828). 



* The inner surface of the upper and louder jaws simply 

 concave; shields thin, rather membranaceous, brittle. 

 Young three-heeled. 



2. CAOUANA. 



Thorax ovate, cordate, covered with fifteen thin, trun- 

 cated, not imbricated shields, which are keeled in the young. 

 Head large. Jaws slightly curved towards each other at 

 the tip ; side of the lower jaws covered with angular plates. 

 Marginal ])lates 27 (rarely 25). Carnivorous, eating mol- 

 lusca and Crustacea. 



Youny three-keeled. 



The additional ])air of discal shields occupies the side of 

 the narrow first vertebral shield, the three covering the 

 space occupied by the broad front vertebral shield of Che- 

 lonia. 



Caouana, Gray, Ann. Phil. x. 21 (1825) ; Cat. Tort. B.M. 



Thalassochelvs, Fit:. Syst. Rept. 30 (1843). 



Ilaliohelys, Fit:. Syst. Rept. 30. 



Lepidochelys, Fit:. Syst. Rept. 30. 



Caretta, sp., Merrem, Tent. 18. 



Chelonia /3, sp., TT'ayler, Syst. 133. 



Chelonees Caouanes, Bum. ^ Bib. Erp. Gen. ii. 552 ; Cat. 



Meth. R. 25. 

 Thalassochelys, Fit:. Syst. Rept. 30. 



The skull (Cuv. Oss. Foss. t. 11. f. 1-4) broad, short ; 

 forehead flat, shelving, with the nose on the slope of the 

 face ; the inner surface of the bones of the jaws smooth 

 (the ridges being on the homy sheath). The pterygoids 

 are broad, concave, with a deep diverging groove on each 

 behind, edging the very narrow linear ridge-like triangular 

 part of the body of the sphenoid, which has part of the 

 basilary between it. Last vertebral bone narrow, elongate, 

 thick-keeled, of nearly the same width the whole length. 



The outer edge of the pterygoid bones is produced into 

 a lobe in the middle : this lobe appears to diminish in size 

 as the skull reaches adult age. 



The frontal (Cur. Oss. Foss. t. 11 . f. 2/) does not ap- 

 pear to increase in size so rapidly as the other bones, being 

 larger in comparison in the young than in the adult skulls. 



1. Caouana Caretta. The Caouanne or Loggerhead. 



Claws two on each foot ; back convex, rounded, toothed 

 behind ; vertebral plates six-sided, keeled, rather longer 

 than wide ; caudal plate squarish, longer than broad, hinder 

 marginal plate rather wider than the rest ; costal shields of 

 young keeled above. 



Caouana Caretta, Gray, Cat. Tort. B.M. 52. 

 Testudo Caretta, Linn. Syst. Nat. 351. 



fT'alb. Clielon. 4. 95. 



Schoepf. Test. t. 16 & 16 B, t. 17. f. 3. 



Show, Zool. ii. t. 23-25. 

 T. cephalo, Schneid. Schildk. 303. 



Temm. Faun. Japon. 25. t. 4. f. 1, 2 ; t. 6. f. 3. 

 T. Caouana, Bechst. in Lacep. i. 110. 



Baud. Rept. ii. 54. t. 16. f. 2. 

 Chelonia Caouana, Schweig. Prod. 292. 



Wagler, Syst. 133. t. 1. f. 1. 23. 



Gray, Syn. Rept. 53. 



Bum. ^- Bib. Erp. Gen. ii. 544 ; Cat. Meth. R. 25. 



Holbrook, N. A. Herpet. ii. 33. t. 4. 

 Ch. virgata, JVagler, Icon. t. 29 (not Cuv.). 

 Ch. pelagiorum, Valenc. Rept. Morea, t. 10. 

 Testudo corticata. Rondel. 

 T. marina Caouanna, Ray, Quad. Ovip. 257. 

 The Loggerhead Turtle, Brown, Jam. 465. 



Catesby, Carol, ii. 40. t 40. 

 La Caouanne, Labat, Voy. Amer. i. 184. 311. 



Luclp. Q. O. i. 96. 

 Test, nasicornis, Lnc^p. 



Edw. Birds, t. 206. 

 Rhinoceros Turtle, Shaiv, Zool. t. 14, very young. 

 Thalassochelys Caouana, Fit:. Syst. Rept. 30. 



Young black ; back three-keeled ; central highest. 



Hab. Atlantic Ocean ; Azores ; Messina ; Morea ; Mar- 

 tinique ; Rio Janeiro. 



a. Half-grown (in spirits). Costal shield keeled above, 

 margin toothed ; not in good state. Sloane Collection. 



