30 SPHARGIDjE. 



Family SPHAEGID^. 



Shell formed of nuirierous small bones disposed like mosaic, 

 separated from the imderlying vertebrae and ribs. Ear hidden. 

 Neck short, incompletely retractile. Plastron much reduced ; no 

 entoplastron. Temple completely roofed over ; parietal bone in 

 contact with the squamosals, without downward prolongation. 

 Limbs paddle-shaped, the digits of the fore limb much elongate ; 

 phalanges without condyles ; no claws. 



Habits similar to those of the Chelouidae. 



A single genus. 



Genus DERMOCHELYS. 



Blaiuv. Jouru. de Phj-s. Ixxxiii, p. 259 (ISIG). 



Dorsal shield completely, ventral shield incompletely bony in 

 the adult, the fox'mer with seven, the latter with five keels. Beak 

 A^ith two triangular cusps, between three deep notches ; jaws 

 sharp-edged. Head with symmetrical horny shields in the young, 

 these shields disappearing with age. 



A single species. 



26. Dermochelys coriacea. 



Testudo coriacea, Liun. Syst. Nat. i, p. 350 (1766). 

 Spharyis coriacea, Crray, Syn. Kept, i, p. 51 (1831). 

 Bermatoclielys coriacea, Giiuth. Eept. Brit. Ind. p. 55 (1804). 

 Dermochelys coriacea, Bouleng. Cat. Chelou. p. 10 (1889) ; id. Faun. 



Brit. lud., Kept. p. 50 (1890) ; KIoss, Journ. Straits liranch Roy. 



Asiat. See. No. 49, p. 63, pis. i-iii (1907). 



Malay name, Kamhau, 



Eore limb as long as dorsal shield in the young, shoi'ter in the 

 adult. Colour dark brown, uniform or spotted with yellowish 

 white ; the dorsal keels and the border of the limbs ytllowish in 

 the young. 



Grows to a length of 2| metres (8 feet). 



A pelagic turtle, known as the Leathery turtle, generally distri- 

 buted between the tropics, but scarce everywhere ; an accidental 

 visitor in temperate seas. Has been known to deposit its eggs, 

 similar to those of the true Turtles, on the coast of Tenasserim, 

 and is also known to lay on a sandy patch at the south entrance 

 of Klang Straits, Selangor. A very large male specimen (Kloss, 

 loc. cit.) was obtained in Johore Straits in 1905, weighing nearly 

 a thousand pounds and measuring in a straight line from tip of 

 head to tip of tail 2*34 metres, with an extreme breadth of 

 carapace of 84 cm. A smaller specimen from Singapore Straits is 

 in the Eaffles Museum of that city. 



.Feeds chiefly on crustaceans and molluscs. 



