The Terrapins 



Diiirihuiion. — Taken only on the Alabama River. 



Olive; each of the shields enclose a yellow ring 

 bordered inside and outside with dark brown. 

 A yellow spot behind eye and two yellow stripes to 

 the neck. occellated terrapin, M. ocidijera. 



Distribution. — Lower Mississippi Valley. 

 h. Shell rough, the shields enclosing raised, concentric areas. 



Dull brownish or olive. Head pale gray with black 



dots. DIAMOND-BACK TERRAPIN, M. palustHs. 



Distribution. — Salt marshes of the Atlantic coast 

 and Gulf of Mexico. 

 Detailed descriptions of these species follow: 



THE GEOGRAPHIC TERRAPIN; MAP TURTLE 



Malacodemmys gcographica, (Lesueur) 



The species grows to a considerable size — lo to 12 inches. 

 The females are considerably larger than the males and have 

 proportionately very large heads. The carapace is rather flat 

 and flaring at the rear margin, where the junction of the shields 

 form moderate notches. On the centre of the carapace is a 

 well-defined, but dull keel. The surface of the carapace is quite 

 smooth and exhibits a dull lustre with adult specimens, though 

 faint ridges are usually to be seen on the sides. 



Colouration. — The carapace is dull olive, with a fine and 

 irregular net-work of yellow lines. These markings are very 

 indistinct on some specimens and show only when the shell is 

 moist. Some specimens have many dark blotches on the 

 carapace. The marginal shields of the under side of the cara- 

 pace are peculiarly marked; they are yellow and contain round, 

 olive markings, consisting of one ring within another, but on very 

 old specimens these markings may be present merely in the 

 form of a dull blotch. 



The plastron is yellow and immaculate, with the exception 

 of very narrow borders of darker colours following the edges 

 of the shields across the shell. 



Head markings. — The head and neck are very dark olive, 

 with many narrow and parallel, greenish-yellow lines. These 

 lines are more numerous than is the case with the other terrapin. 

 A short distance behind the eye is a triangular spot of the same 

 colour as the stripes. 



The tail of male specimens is long — almost half the length 

 of the plastron — and brightly striped with yellow. 



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