I9I3-] ^- AxxANDALE : Tortoises of Chota Nagpur. 69 



Shell uniform black, otherwise probably as in th^ forma typica, 

 but perhaps smaller. 



Head black, a great part of the dorsal and lateral surfaces being 

 occupied by a broad V-shaped pale 3'ello\v mark the point of 

 which is directed backwards on the occiput ; the tympanum and 

 the surrounding skin black. 



Geographical disirihiUion. — Only known from the southern 

 parts of the Malabar Zone (Travancore and Cochin) on the'western 

 side of the Western Ghats. Northern limits of range unknown. 

 . Habits. — Henderson states that this race is aquatic in its habits. 



Type (skeleton). Rept. Ind. Mus. No. 1012 ( $ ). 



The tj^pe-specimcn of this race is a skeleton, which could 

 hardly be distinguished from one of the typical form. There is a 

 large example in spirit in the British Museum, labelled thermalis. 

 So far as colouration is concerned, this is perhaps the most easily 

 recognized of the races of .Y. trijuga. 



4. Race edeniana (Theobald). 



Melanochelys edenianii, Theobald, Cat. Rept. Brit. Mus., p. 12 



(1876); Boulenger [Nicoria trijuga var. edeniana). Cat. Chcl. 



Brit. Mils., p. 123 and Fauna, p. 28: Siob^nrock [Geoemyda 



trijuga edeniana), Synops., p. 496. 

 Eniys trijuga var. hiirniana, Anderson, Anal. Zool. Res. Yunnan, 



p. 723, pis. Ivii and Iviii. 

 Nicoria trijuga var. edeniana, Annandale (partini), Jotirn. As. Soc. 



Bengal, 1906, p. 205. 



Shell black in the adult, with (except in very old individuals) 

 conspicuous 3'ellovv keels on the carapace and lateral stripes on the 

 plastron, in the young brown and less conspicuously marked. In 

 ver}" old shells in which the surface of the epidermal shields is 

 worn, the colours are dull and inconspicuous. The carapace is not 

 knoimi to exceed 29 cm. in length in a straight line. It is not quite 

 fnlh' ossified when 19 cm. long. In the adult it is more strong- 

 ly arched and deeper than in any of the races j^et discussed and 

 this is more conspicuously the case in the female than in the male, 

 but the plastron of the male is only slightly concave. 



Head. — ' ' The head of the male above is nearly uniform brown, 

 darkest on the upper surface over the nose, and destitute of any 



markings In some females, the upper surface of the head 



is reticulated with olive-brown and orange-^^ellow An 



orange spot on the mandible below the angle of the mouth, leading 

 interruptedly to the tympanum." (Anderson). 



Geographical distribution. — Upper Burma, ilrrakan (hills and 

 coast), N. Tenasserim. There is a stuffed specimen in the Indian 

 Museum labelled '• Assam," but it is not quite typical, having the 

 second vertebral shield much broader than usual : the skull is not 

 present. Possibly it may represent a distinct race or species. 



Habits. — Anderson states that this race feeds on water-plants, 

 more particularh' on Vallisneria. 



