CATALOGUE OF SHIELD REPTILES. 



73 



c. Adult (stuffed). Back covered vdt\\ Chehiiobia ; hinder 



margiiiiil plates less acute ; caudal plate elongate, sub- 

 trianijular. Atlantic Ocean. Modelled in the Pedi- 

 ment of the Museum. 



d. Half-grown (stuffed). Hinder marginal plates acute, 



rather produced ; caudal scarcely elongated. Atlantic 

 Ocean. 



ff. Half-grown (stuffed). 



h. Half-grown (stuffed). 



_;'. Very young (in spirits). Black ; centre of upper and 

 hinder edge of lower beak, the prominences of the 

 sternal shields, and a very narrow margin to the mar- 

 ginal shields, whitish. 



m. Young (in spirits). Lost the greater part of dorsal 

 plates. 



Osteology : — 



Cuv. Oss. Foss. V. 187. t. 11. f. 1-4, skull; t. 12. f. 43, 



OS hyoides ; t. 12. f. 5. 

 Wagle'r, Syst. Amjyh. t. 1. f. 3, 4. 



b. Half-grown (dorsal shield only). 



e. Skull (very large). Costal shields smooth. India? 



Presented by Thomas Bell, Esq. 

 Chelonia Riippellii, Grat/, B.M. 



f. Half-grown. Back and belly shielded. Coast of Devon- 



shire. Presented by J. Wilson, Esq. 

 Testudo Caretta, Mag. N. H. new ser. iv. 136. 



i. Half-grown (upper shield only) . 



k. Half-grown skeleton (mounted). 



I. Skull. Ceylon. Presented by Dr. J. Davy. 



2. Caouana olivacea. The Olive Caouanne. 

 Claws one on each foot ; marginal shields 27 ; back flat, 

 sides rather concave, side edges expanded, slightly bent up ; 

 vertebral plates narrow, elongate, longer than wide ; verte- 

 bral shields very sharply keeled ; caudal plate subtriangular, 

 longer than broad, much larger than the other marginal 

 plates ; head moderate. 



Caouana olivacea. Gray, Cat. Tort. B.M. 53. 

 Chelonia olivacea, Esc/isc/io/fCf Zool. Atl. t. 3. 



Cantor, Cat. Rept. Malay. 13. 

 Lepidochelys olivacea, Fitz. Syst. Rept. 30. 

 Thalassochelys olivacea. Fit:. 'Syst. Rept. 30. 

 Ch. caouana, var.. Gray, Syn. 54. 

 Ch. Dussumierii, Bum. S^ Bib. Erp. G^n. ii. 557 : Cat 



Met/i. R. 25. 

 Ch. subcarinata, Riipp. MS. Mus. Franc/. ? 



Hab. Indian Ocean ; Malabar ; Philippines. 



a. Very young (in spirits). Dark brown ; neck, fins, and 



under side paler brown ; without any narrow anterior 

 vertebral plate (the two united I). Philippine Islands. 



b. Stuffed (adult). With a narrow anterior vertebral plate. 



" Young. Above blackish-olive, lighter than in the adult; 

 shell and fin edges with pale yellow. Sternum pale green- 

 ish-yellow, washed with chestnut ; areola blackish. 



" Adult. Head brown ; shell blackish-green, some of the 

 marginal scales of the fins yellow. Sternum yellow, washed 

 with chestnut; 27 marginal shields ; fin with one nail. 



" The shell is broad, subcordiform, its length exceeding 

 its breadth by ^\, three-keeled, the vertebral keel strongest, 

 dentated behind ; marginal shields 27, obliquely placed, 

 the first and fourth pairs of costals and the fourth vertebral 

 shield each divided into two pieces. 



" The flesh of the Chelonia olivacea, though relished by 

 the Chinese settler in Pinang, is unpalatable to Europeans." 

 — Cantor. 



3. Caouana elongata. The Long Caouanne. 

 Shell elongate, rather flattened in the middle, convex on 

 the sides, and slightly dilated and flattened upon the side 

 and contracted on the hinder edges ; marginal plates 27, 

 last pair much longer ; caudal plates square, large, much 

 longer than broad ; vertebral plates elongate, sis-sided, half 

 as long again as broad. Claws ? Head . ? 



Caouana elongata. Gray, Cat. Tort. B.M. 53. 

 Hab. ? 



a. Shell only (adult). 



** The inner surface of the jaws with an angular subcen- 

 tral ridge on the upper, and a sharp ridge on the inner 

 edge of the lower one. Shields thick, horny, brittle, 

 imbricate. Young three-keeled. 



3. CARETTA. 

 Thorax ovate, cordate, three-keeled, covered with 13 

 thick, horny, keeled plates, which are produced and imbri- 

 cate on their hinder edge. Muzzle elongate, compressed. 

 Beaks moderate, upper edge straight, toothless, lower slightly 

 recurved ; side of lower beak with a single elongated shield. 

 Sternum keeled on each side. Fins each with 2 claws. 

 Palate concave, broad, narrow behind ; front of upper jaw 

 with a single central ridge ; lower concave, with rather 

 strong ridges on the inner edge. The last vertebral bone 

 broad, short, half-ovate, about as long as wide at the 

 base. 



Caretta, Gray, Cat. Tort. B.M. 53(1844). 

 Chelonia (Eremochclys), Fitz. Syst. Rept. 30. 

 Caretta, sp., Merrem, Tent. 17. 

 Chelonia (a), Jl'ayler, Syst. 133. 



Chelone'es imbriquees, Dum. ij- Bib. Erp. Gen. ii. 547 ; Cat 

 , Meth. R. 24. 



