24 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



search of a change of diet, feeding on insects and 

 berries. 



In Clemmys the plastron is united to the carapace by 

 bone and not by ligament as in Emys, from which it does 

 not otherwise differ. The genus is represented in Europe, 

 Africa, South-Western Asia, China, Japan, and North 

 America. Two species are found in Europe, the Iberian 

 Terrapin, CI. leprosa, which inhabits the Spanish Peninsula, 

 Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, and the Caspian Terrapin, 

 CI. caspica, restricted to South-Eastern Europe and Asia, 

 from the borders of the Caspian Sea to the Persian 

 Gulf. 



In CI. leprosa the carapace is dark olive ; the plastron 

 yellow. The head is olive, the sides being streaked with 

 yellow, while an orange spot is situated between the orbit 

 and the ear. A number of yellow bands extend along 

 each side of the neck. The shell seldom exceeds six inches 

 in length. Its specific name is derived from the fact that 

 the creature is subject to a gangrenous disease, when 

 living in not sufficiently aerated waters, which gives the 

 shell a leprous appearance. 



CI. caspica is more handsome, the carapace being 

 elegantly marked with black-edged yellow, wavy markings. 

 This and the preceding species are far more aquatic in 

 their habits than Emys orbicularis, and, unlike the latter 

 terrapin, never feed out of water. Freshly captured 

 specimens of the Caspian Terrapin emit, when handled, 

 a disagreeable odour, which is due, as in Cinostcrnum, to 

 the secretion of a pair of inguinal glands. When kept for 

 some time in confinement, however, they lose this ob- 

 jectionable habit. Although reaching a length of about 



