BATAGUR BOitNEENSIS. 4/ 



The specimen was captured in a river in the hilly dis- 

 trict near Padang by S. Muller and has been confounded 

 in our collections with specimens of Notochelys platynota. 



Batagur bomeensis. 



As might be presumed from the remarks made upon this 

 species by its authors , Schlegel and Muller , when they 

 described it (Verhandelingen over de Nat. Gesch. ; Scliild- 

 padden, p. 30) under the name of Emijs borneoensis and 

 found close relationship to Tetraonyx longicollis , this spe- 

 cies is a true Batagur. The closer specific affinities howe- 

 ver lead more towards the dhongoka^ than they do towards 

 the baska. 



Still it appears that the Bornean specimens really belong 

 to a distinct species, differing in certain constant charac- 

 ters from the Indian Batagurs. For this reason the follow- 

 ing redescription may not prove superfluous. 



Form of the shell rather convex, its hind edge slightly 

 serrated in young specimens , the serrature becoming nearly 

 obsolete with age. A continuous keel along the middle 

 of the vertebrals in young specimens , which is reduced 

 to knobs on the posterior half of the vertebrals in old ones. 

 Sternum flat with very distinct lateral keels in young spe- 

 cimens. Nuchal plate triangular, broadest behind. The 

 first , second and third vertebrals broader than long in young, 

 but longer than broad in old individuals. Gulars conside- 

 rably broader than long , the suture between them being about 

 one third of the length of the suture between the postgulars. 

 The hind margins of the postgulars form an obtuse angle 

 in young and a faint curve in old examples. In an adult 

 example the postgulars are shorter than either the pecto- 

 rals, abdominals or praeanals, the sternum is of a more 

 or less uniform yellow , on the back there are three broad 

 longitudinal dark bands, ,whereas the marginals are pro- 

 vided with a black blotch near the anterior margin and 

 situated partly on the superior, partly on the inferior sur- 

 face of the animal. 



Notes from the Ley den ]Mu6eum, "Vol. III. 



