1 
SPHARGID AE. 
Suborder I, ATHECE. 
HKuereta, part., Stannius, Zoot. Amph. 1854, 
Chelonii, part., Agassiz, Contr. N. H, U.S. i, 1857. 
Oiacopodes, part., Gray, Suppl. Cat. Sh. Rept. 1. 1870. 
Athecze, Cope, Proc. Amer, Assoc. Adv. Sc. xix. 1870, p. 235; Dollo, 
Bull. Mus. Belg. iv. 1886, p. 91. 
Dermatochelydx, Seeley, Q. Jown. Geol, Soc, xxxvi. 1880, p. 412. 
Paradiacostoidea, part., Bawr, Zool. Anz. 1887, p. 99. 
Vertebree and ribs free, separated from a bony exoskeleton. Skull 
without descending processes of the parietal bones. 
Fam. 1. SPHARGID. 
Sphargidee, Gray, Ann. Phil. (2) x. 1825. 
Spharegidee, Bell, Zool, Jowrn. iii. 1828. 
Oiacopodes, part., Wagler, Syst. Amph, 1850. 
Cheloniadie, part., Gray, Syn. Rept. 1851. 
Thalassites, part., Duméril § Bibron, Erp, Gén. 11. 1835. 
Dermatochelydee, Fvtzinger, Syst. Rept, 1845. 
Cheloniade, part., Gray, Cat. Tort. 1844, and Sh. Rept. i, 1855. 
Sphargididee, Agassiz, Contr. N. H. U.S. i. 1857. 
Sphargidina, Strauch, Chelonol, Stud. 1862. 
Sphargididee, Gray, Suppl. Cat. Sh, Rept. i. 1870. 
Exoskeleton consisting of mosaic-like juxtaposed plates. Plastral 
elements eight; no entoplastron. Limbs paddle-shaped, clawless, 
the digits of the fore limb much elongate; phalanges without 
condyles. 
1. DERMOCHELYS. 
Dermochelys, Blainv. Journ. de Phys. Ixxxiii. p. 259 (1816), and 
Bull. Soc. Philom. 1816, p. 111. 
Sphargis, Merrem, Tent. p- 19 (1829); Fitzing. N. Class. Rept. p. 5 
(1826); Dum. § Bibr. ii. p. 559 (1835); Gray, Cat. Tort. p. 51 
(1844), and Sh, Rept. 1. p. 71 (1855), and Bae p- 119 (1870). 
Coriudo, Mleming, Phil. Zool. ii. p. 271 (1822 
Dermatochelys, Wagler, Syst. Amph. p. 185 (1830) ; Strauch, Chelon. 
Stud. p. 58 (1862) ; Giinth. Rep. Brit. Ind. p. BS (1864). 
Dorsal shield completely, ventral shield incompletely, bony in the 
adult, the former with seven, the latter with five keels. Beak with 
two triangular cusps, between three deep notches; no enlarged 
alveolar surface, the jaws simply sharp-edged. Head covered with | 
small shields. 
Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. 
The vertebral column contains eight cervical, ten dorsal, two 
sacral, and eighteen to twenty caudal vertebra. The neuro-central 
suture persists on all the vertebra, save the hindermost caudals. 
