Chap. I. 



STECIAL CLASSIFICATION OF TESTUDINATA. 



241 



SECTION II, 



SPECIAL CLASSIFICATION OF TESTUDINATA. 



Whatever be the name admitted to designate this remarkable group of the 

 animal kingdom, and whatever be the rank or dignity assigned to it, whether 

 simply considered as a genus, or a family, or an order, all naturalists, with the 

 exception of Strauss,^ agree in regarding the Turtles as a natural division in the 

 class of Reptiles. They differ only with respect to its standing in the class, the 

 extremes of opinion being between Linnaeus, who admits it only as a genus, and 

 Strauss-Durkheim, who considers it as a distinct class. We have already seen 

 that the correct view is that which considers it as an order.^ 



It is more difficult to determine the value of the minor groups into which 

 the Testudinata have been subdivided. Without entering into more details upon 

 the sul)ject than are found in most works on Herpetology, we shall hardly be 

 able to form a just estimate of the real value of all these divisions, especiall}- as 

 few authors agree upon this point wuth one another. Linnoeus, for instance, unites 

 all the Turtles he knew in one genus, including the marine as well as the fresh- 

 water and land species. Brongniart,'' for the first time, considers them as a distinct 

 order, imder the name " Cheloxiens," and divides them into three genera : Testudo, 

 Einj-s, and Chelonia. Cuvier, a few years later in his " Regne Animal," enumerates 

 five genera in that order, but without any further divisions. Oppel,* as early as 

 ISll, before enumerating the genera, introduces two higher divisions, under the 

 names of Chelonii and Amydaj for those Turtles which have oar-like or paddle 

 feet, and those in which the fingers are distinguishable. These divisions of Oppel 

 coi'respond to the sections Pinnata and Digitata of Merrem and Bell.^ Gray,*^ 



* Compare Part 11., Clia]). I., Sect. 1, p. 240. 



' The variou-i names applied by different authors 

 to this order, are: Tkstldix.vt.v, Klein, Qiiadrup. 

 Disp. LipsioB, 1751; adopted by Oppel in ISll ; 

 by Merrem in 1820; by Fitzinger in 1826; liy Bell 

 in 1828 ; by Bonaparte in 183^ ; by LeConte in 1854. 

 Ti;.srii)iNi;s, adopted by Wagler in 18.30. Che- 

 lonii, [iroposed by Brongniart in 1800 ; adopted by 

 Cuvier in 1817; by Gray in 1825; by Wiegmann 

 in 1832; by Dumeril and Bibron in 1835; by 

 Bonaparte in 183G; by Ilolbrook in 1842. Fouxi- 

 CATA, proposed by Ilaworth in 1825. Stkuiu- 



31 



CimoTES, proposed by Ritgen in 1828. Tyi.oi-oda, 

 proposed by F. Meyer in 1849. 



' Broxcniaut, (Al..) E-ssay d'une Classification 

 naturelle des Reptiles, Paris, 1805, 4to. 



* OiTEL, (M.,) Die Ordnungen, Familien und 

 Gattungen der Reptilien, Munchen, ISll. 1 vol., 8vo. 



' JIkkkk.m, (B.,) Tentamen Systeniatis Aniphi- 

 bioruni, Marburg, 1820, 1 vol., 8vo. — Bicll, (Th.,) 

 Characters of the Order, Families, and Genera of 

 Testudinata, Zoiil. Journal, 1828. 



• GuAY, (.T. E.,) A Synopsis of the Genera of 

 Reptiles and Amphibia, Annals of Philosophy, 1825. 



