102 MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM 



resented for the first time by tlic single genus and species Anosteira ornata Leidy. 

 The Emydidfe, suggestive of swampy conditions, in the number of species are the 

 most abundant turtles in the present collection. Seven species have been recog- 

 nized and larger collections will doubtless add several more to the list. The soft- 

 shelled river-turtles, Trionychidae, indicative of flowing water, are represented by 

 at least three species, one of which is as large as the existing Asiatic species. The 

 presence of true land-tortoises, Testudinidse, is represented by three species of 

 the genus Hadrianus, which includes tortoises some of which attain a length of more 

 than three feet, and the genus Testudo by a single species, the first recorded oc- 

 currence, in North America, of this genus below the Oligocene. The discovery of 

 the fossil remains of the lizard-like reptile Ghjptosaurus in the Uinta according to 

 Osborn' "hints as to the Floridan or south temperate conditions of climate." 



There were a considerable number of specimens in the collection which were 

 too fragmentary for specific determination, and in two instances at least I am in- 

 clined to the opinion, that, had better material been available, distinctive characters 

 would have been found to show the presence of additional species new to the fauna. 



I take this opportunity to protest most emphatically against the establishment 

 of new species of turtles based upon inadequate specimens, for it certainly cannot 

 serve any useful purpose to burden the literature with a lot of useless and meaning- 

 less names. The difficulties encountered in the present study, in recognizing to 

 which species certain specimens belonged, when almost perfect individuals were 

 at hand, shows the futihty of naming scraps with which subsequently discovered 

 material can never with absolute confidence be identified. There are perhaps 

 some few exceptions, for occasionally a fragmentary specimen is found which 

 shows a sculpture, or some character of such striking peculiarity, as to make it 

 stand out distinctly from all previously described forms. The present study has 

 demonstrated that a considerable variation within the limits of a species is to be 

 expected, and, until the range of these variations is determined, it is quite useless 

 to describe new forms based upon some small part of the carapace or plastron, 

 which shows some slight difference from described forms, when the very next speci- 

 men discovered may have these same features and yet have other characters to be 

 found in an adequate specimen, which show it to belong to a well-established 

 species. 



I wish also to protest against the practice of naming species simply because 

 the specimen comes from a formation from which the genus to which it belongs 

 has not previously been recognized. In other words it is assumed that ' it is not 



'■ Osborn, H. F., "Age of Mammals," 1910, p. 160. 



