46 REPTILES OF THE WORLD 



motion in reaching the water, as it flounders for suffi- 

 cient depth where it may find purchase for the paddle- 

 like limbs. 



Differing from the common species by the presence 

 of ridges on the inner, crushing surface of the jaws, 

 is Kemp's Loggerhead Turtle, T. kempii, of Garman. 

 It has been recorded from the Gulf of Mexico. 



The Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas, has acquired 

 its popular name from the green hue of the fat. The 

 shields of the carapace are smooth; on old examples 

 they are polished; they are olive or brown, richly mar- 

 bled with yellow. Though attractive and striking in 

 its coloration, the shell is of no commercial value. Head 

 and flippers are coarsely plated and all of the shields 

 are vividly margined with white or yellow. 



A large Green Turtle has a shell three and a half 

 feet long. An animal of this size weighs about four 

 hundred pounds. 



This is the turtle so often seen in our markets rolled 

 over on its back, in which position it is helpless. Al- 

 though the treatment has been generally condemned 

 as cruel, it is a necessity in keeping the turtles alive 

 unless they can be placed in capacious tanks of sea 

 water — an expensive process for the markets. The 

 plastron is not so rigidly constructed as with the fresh- 

 water turtles. If examined, it will be found quite pli- 

 able, offering little of the bony support of most che^ 

 lonians. This is not a defect in the structure, as the 

 sea turtles never find it necessary to rest their weight 

 upon the plastron except in the brief trips shoreward 

 to lay their eggs. Thus, if these animals are placed 

 in a "normal" position when out of the water their great 

 weight presses the plastron upwards against the lungs 

 and other internal organs, causing speedy death. Those 



