Eurter — Herpetology of Missouri. 243 



Color. — Color of the upper surface of the carapace olive or brownish, 

 usually with black blotches on the dorsals, co&tals, and marginal scutes. 

 The tubercles on the dorsal ridge are of the same black color. Over all 

 the scutes of the carapace is a net-work of greenish lines. The plastron 

 is yellowish in the adults, with some irregular darker markings. In 

 the young the markings on the plastron remind one of Bell's Turtle. 

 Bridge uniform brownish with numerous streaks of yellow and brown. 

 Head, neck, limbs and tail dark green with stripes of yellow and rows 

 of small yellow spots. Behind the eye is a very characteristic trans- 

 verse, proportionately wide, streak of yellow, which runs backwards* 

 on the top of the head, nearly in a right angle, to the transverse blotch. 

 Another yellow streak from the point of the nose over the median line 

 of the head and between the two angular marks. A yellow spot under 

 the eye. 



Size. — Length of shell 170 mm.; width of same 136 mm.; depth 71 

 mm. Length of plastron on median line 153 mm. These turtles some- 

 times reach a length of 254 mm. 



Habitat. — Mississippi Valley north to Wisconsin, west 

 from Ohio to Kansas. Missouri localities: — St. Louis, 

 Jackson, Dunklin, Pemiscot, St. Frangois, Pettis, and 

 Cooper Counties. Osage River (M. G. Stolley). In Illi- 

 nois, Madison, St. Clair, Monroe, and Randolph Counties. 



Habits. — The Map Turtle is an eminently aquatic terra- 

 pin, spending its life in rivers, lakes and ponds. Some- 

 times quite a number of them can be seen sunning them- 

 selves on rocks and fallen trees. The food consists of 

 small fish and crayfish. Professor Garman states that he 

 found the bulbs of sedge in their digestive canal. Accord- 

 ing to Professor Louis Agassiz this species deposits its 

 eggs earlier in the season than any other of our fresh 

 water turtles. He also states that they do not lay eggs 

 before their eleventh year. 



97. Malaclemys geographica Lesueur. Geographic Ter- 

 rapin. Map Turtle. 



Testudo geographica, Emys geographica, Emys megacephala. Terrapene 

 geographica, Graptemys geographica, Clemmys geographica, Mala- 

 coclemmys geographicus, Malaclemmys geographica, Malacoclemys 

 geographicus. 



Descnp<to«,.— Carapace depressed, bluntly keeled. Keels of dorsal 

 plates regularly convex, posterior tubercles not very prominent. Outer 



