250 



VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



A . ferox (Schneider) . Large turtles similar to A . spinifer, but plain 

 brown in color in the adult; young spotted or blotched; length of cara- 

 pace 450 mm.; width 370 mm.; weight 13 kilos: Gulf States from South 

 Carohna to Louisiana; common. 



Family 5. Cheloniidae. — Marine turtles of large size, in which 

 the shell is covered with large horny plates; carapace depressed, highest 

 in front; head large, covered with plates and incompletely retractile; 

 limbs in form of flippers, with i or 2 claws on each; eggs spherical: 

 7 species, which live in the open ocean in the warmer parts of the 

 earth, coming to the shore on tropical and. sub tropical beaches to bury 

 their eggs. 



Fig. 138. — Amyda spinifer (from Fowler). 



Key to the Genera of Cheloniidae 



ai Four costal plates on each side, 



bi Plates of carapace imbricated i. Eretmochelys. 



hi Plates of carapace not imbricated 2. Chelonia. 



3,2 Five costal plates on each side 3. Caretia. 



1 . Eretmochelys Fitzinger. Head broad, with a large median plate 

 surrounded by 7 smaller ones; costal plates 4 on a side; 7 to 10 plates on 

 each cheek: 2 species. 



E.imhricata (L). Tortoise shell turtle; hawk-bill. Body brown or 

 blackish above and yellow beneath; upper jaw with a hooked tip; each 

 foot with 2 claws; length of carapace 750 mm.: tropical seas; the 

 Florida and Gulf coasts; occasionally as far north as Massachusetts; 

 valued for the tortoise shell of commerce, this turtle being the only one 

 which furnishes it. 



2. Chelonia Latreille. Top of head with a large median plate sur- 

 rounded by 7 smaller ones; costal plates 4 on a side; 15 to 20 plates on 

 each cheek; head narrow: 2 species. 



