OSTEOLOGY OL THE NEW GUINEA TLRTLE — WAITE;. 



Ill 



Poitions of another example of Carettochelys, of unknown sex. 

 just received by the Trustees, enable me to supplement the 

 I)uVjlishecl accounts of its structure and also to correct errors in 

 previous descriptions. 



The material consists of tlie head, with four cervical vertebise 

 attached, in spirits, and the carapace and plastron. The turtle 

 was taken at the island of Kiwai (Kewai) at the mouth of the 

 Fly River. It was caught at night with hook and line by natives, 

 and the portions not eaten or broken were obtained, and kindly 

 forwarded by the Rev. E. B. Riley. Captain Ai-thur J. Wyrill 

 of the London Missionary Society's S.S. " John Williams,'" 

 obligingly brought the salvage to Sydney. 



The following is a description of the portions examined : — 



Head. — The anterior portion of the head is in perfect condition, 

 but the hinder part above, and the hyoids had been removed. 

 Th(; snout is perhaps the most remarkable feature of the head, it 

 is much more prominent than would be inferred from the published 

 figures of the type which was probably dried before an examination 

 had been made. The snout is a fleshy organ, its front and lateral 

 aspects covered with tubercles and freely furrowed ; it is much 

 bent downwards and is produced considerably beyond the margin 

 of the jaw. Its front edge is truncated, pig-like, being very deep 

 and blunt : the wide nostrils are situated in its upper portion ; 



their relative position is 

 shown in the accompanying- 

 sketch (fig. 30), five-sixths 

 natural size. A valve-like 

 process is developed within 

 the n(jstril on the inner side. 

 In the preserved example 

 no trace of sutures is visible 

 in the large head shields, 

 and those described by 

 Ramsay are, as indicated 

 by Dr. G. Baur, simply 

 impressions of the bony 

 sutui'es of the skull, tc> 

 which the skin has moulded 

 itself in drying. The rugosities of the surface which also merely 

 repeat the inequalities of the skull are not so j)n)nounced in the 

 preserved as in the dried example. 



^ Sknll. — The skull is moderately arched and of e\en contour. 

 The orbits are subcircular, large, lateral, and widely separated : 



Fis. 30. 



