^ 



cffx 



<t^. 



New York, Dec. 27, 1913. No. 1. 



OPEI$ 



Published by the contributors to advance the Science of cold- 

 blooded vertebrates. 



AN INTERESTING FORM OE THE 

 SNAPPING TURTLE. 



(Chelydra serpentina.) 



Recently several large snapping turtles have 

 been received at the Philadelphia Aquarium, which 

 appear to differ from those found commonly about 

 Philadelphia and the Middle Atlantic States 

 generally. I am indebted to Mr. W. E. Meehan, 

 the Director of the Aquarium, for the opportunity 

 of examining them. Altogether three specimens 

 are in his possession, one from Minnesota and the 

 others from Lake Copake in New York. Of the 

 last, one is small. All agree in one striking fea- 

 ture, though most developed in the two large exam- 

 ples, in the presence of three lengthwise keels 

 on the upper surface of the carapace being well 

 elevated and very conspicuous. Other examples 

 with low and evenly convex carapaces, and with 

 the keels but slightly developed, if at all present, 

 are of all ages, the largest measuring 14 \ inches 

 over the longest diameter of the carapace. These 

 local specimens are from Pennsylvania and New 

 Jersey. This evidence is interesting, as most writers 

 state that the carapace becomes gradually smoother 

 with age, though my incomplete observations, chiefly 

 from lack of northern material for comparison, 



