DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF LEATIIERBACK 

 TURTLE FROM THE MIOCENE OF MARYLAND. 



By William Palmer, 



Of the r. S. XfitifUKil MiiscuDi. 



During July, 1908, while ]Mr. D. B. Mackie and myself were search- 

 ing for fossils along the Calvert Cliffs, in Calvert County, Maryland, 

 we discovered some hard, stony plates of a peculiar nature, which 

 puzzled us for some time. The first piece found was in a hnnp of wet, 

 sandy clay at the line of high water. It stood on edge, and could 

 only l)e examined, without disintegrating, on its mider surface. After 

 considerable examination and discussion, we decided that it was either 

 a piece of crude Indian pottery or a piece of baked clay, possibly the 

 bottom of an oven or burning place. Attention was then attracted to 

 a larger mass of drier clay near by, which, after a few minutes of 

 picking and cleaning, developed a similar back and edge exposure, 

 and also an upper surface divided into many small, interlocking, flat 

 plates, the whole being oG^ mm. long and 130 nun. wide, and composed 

 of about 100 plates. Greater interest in the find being thus excited, 

 much of the del)ris was examined, with the result that many separate 

 plates Avere found, and also a few pieces in Avhich several or many were 

 still united. An examination of the face of the cliff was then made, 

 disclosing not only the place from whence the material had recently 

 fallen, but also, some 30 feet above the beach, a clearly-defined section 

 of Avhat was evidently an inverted shell or carapace about 4 feet 

 (1.220 mm.) across. The ends were turned upward for about <S inches 

 (20-1 mm.), and a very distinct and heavy ridge projected downward 

 from its center. A number of steps were cut into the cliff' and efforts 

 made to get near the remains, but the treacherous nature of the wet 

 clay and the fact that the shell was located in an overhanging i)ortion 

 of the cliff' compelled us to abandon the attempt for a time. On 

 another visit several days later, with tools and ropes, we were unfor- 



Proceedinqs U.S. National Museum, Vol. XXXVI— No. 1669. 

 Proc. N. M. vol. xxxvi— 09 24 369 



