﻿338 
  BABCOCK: 
  NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  TURTLES. 
  

  

  FamUy 
  CHELONIIDAE. 
  

  

  Chelonia 
  mydas 
  (Linne). 
  

  

  Green 
  Turtle; 
  Edible 
  Turtle. 
  

  

  Plate 
  18, 
  Figs. 
  1, 
  2. 
  

  

  Testudo 
  mydas 
  Linne, 
  Syst. 
  Nat., 
  ed. 
  10, 
  1758, 
  vol. 
  1, 
  p. 
  197. 
  

  

  Chelonia 
  mydas 
  Schweigger, 
  Arch. 
  Naturw. 
  Math., 
  Konigsberg, 
  1812, 
  vol. 
  1, 
  pt. 
  3, 
  p. 
  412. 
  

  

  The 
  Green 
  Turtle, 
  so 
  called 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  greenish 
  color 
  of 
  its 
  fatty 
  tissue, 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  

   highly 
  prized 
  of 
  all 
  our 
  sea 
  turtles 
  as 
  an 
  article 
  of 
  food. 
  

  

  In 
  appearance 
  it 
  in 
  no 
  way 
  resembles 
  the 
  Leatherback 
  Turtle, 
  belonging 
  to 
  an 
  entirely 
  

   separate 
  family, 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  Loggerhead 
  Tm-tle 
  it 
  is 
  easily 
  distinguished 
  by 
  its 
  smaller 
  head 
  

   and 
  more 
  cleanly-cut 
  lines. 
  Its 
  form 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  "heart 
  flattened 
  on 
  one 
  side, 
  from 
  the 
  broad 
  

   end 
  of 
  which 
  projects 
  the 
  .... 
  head 
  . 
  . 
  ., 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  widening 
  side 
  of 
  which 
  protrude, 
  in 
  

   front, 
  mng-like, 
  scaly 
  flappers, 
  and 
  below 
  the 
  narrow 
  part 
  of 
  which 
  hang 
  another 
  pair 
  of 
  

   broad, 
  short, 
  scaly 
  rudders" 
  (Agassiz). 
  

  

  Size. 
  — 
  Large 
  specimens 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  have 
  weighed 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  hundred 
  pounds, 
  but 
  of 
  

   late 
  the 
  average 
  weight 
  of 
  turtles 
  received 
  in 
  the 
  American 
  markets 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  about 
  fifty 
  

   pounds. 
  The 
  shell 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  specimen 
  will 
  reach 
  nearly 
  four 
  feet 
  in 
  length. 
  

  

  Color. 
  — 
  The 
  carapace 
  is 
  pale 
  ohve 
  or 
  brownish, 
  mottled 
  or 
  banded 
  with 
  yellow. 
  The 
  

   plastron 
  is 
  light 
  yellow 
  or 
  lemon. 
  

  

  Description. 
  — 
  This 
  turtle 
  belong? 
  to 
  an 
  entirely 
  separate 
  suborder 
  (Thecophora) 
  from 
  the 
  

   Leatherback. 
  In 
  this 
  group 
  the 
  thoracic 
  vertebrae 
  and 
  ribs 
  are 
  imited, 
  and 
  covered 
  with 
  a 
  

   series 
  of 
  median 
  (nem-al) 
  and 
  a 
  paired 
  series 
  of 
  lateral 
  (costal) 
  plates. 
  Also 
  the 
  parietals 
  are 
  

   prolonged 
  downward, 
  meeting 
  the 
  pterygoids 
  either 
  directly 
  or 
  by 
  the 
  interposition 
  of 
  an 
  

   epipterygoid. 
  In 
  this 
  family 
  the 
  pelvis 
  is 
  not 
  fused 
  with 
  the 
  shell. 
  The 
  carapace 
  is 
  quite 
  

   smooth 
  in 
  adult 
  specimens, 
  (keeled 
  in 
  young 
  ones), 
  the 
  twenty-five 
  marginal 
  shields 
  forming 
  

   a 
  smooth 
  or 
  sUghtly 
  serrated 
  border. 
  Foiu- 
  pairs 
  of 
  costal 
  shields 
  are 
  present. 
  The 
  head 
  is 
  

   covered 
  with 
  smaller 
  shields, 
  brownish 
  or 
  oUve 
  in 
  color. 
  The 
  horny 
  beaks 
  of 
  the 
  jaws 
  have 
  

   denticulated 
  outer 
  edges. 
  The 
  extremities 
  are 
  covered 
  with 
  shields 
  and 
  with 
  (usually) 
  one 
  

   blunt 
  claw 
  on 
  the 
  first 
  digit. 
  The 
  neck 
  is 
  only 
  shghtly 
  retractile 
  and 
  bends 
  in 
  an 
  S-shaped 
  

   curve 
  in 
  the 
  vertical 
  plane. 
  

  

  Geographic 
  Distribution. 
  — 
  This 
  turtle 
  has 
  a 
  wide 
  range, 
  inhabiting 
  tropical 
  and 
  semi- 
  

   tropical 
  waters 
  throughout 
  the 
  world. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  reported 
  as 
  especially 
  nmnerous 
  about 
  

   the 
  West 
  Indies, 
  the 
  Island 
  of 
  Ascension, 
  Mosquito 
  Coast, 
  the 
  Bahamas, 
  Bay 
  of 
  Honduras, 
  

  

  