TORTOISES. 37 



1. Sternotherus. Pelusios, Fitz. 



Shell roundish, rather convex, side plates narrow, front one 

 very short and square. Nuchal plate none. Sternum hroad, front 

 lobe rounded before, moveable, and furnished on each side of its 

 hinder edge with an internal bony process ; hinder lobe bifid, with 

 an internal star. Tntergular plate marginal between the gular. 

 Jaws naked. Toes 5-5. 



The Black Sternotherus. Sternotherus niger, Dum. et 

 Bib. E. Gen. ii. 397, t. 20, /. 1. 



Shell oval, short, swollen, narrower in front, deep, black : muz. 

 zle elongate ; upper jaw hooked, covering the lower ; head with 2 

 large parietal, a long fronto-nasal, and moderate frontal shields. 



Inhab. Madagascar ? Mus. Paris. 



The Blackish Sternotherus. Sternotherus subniger, Gray, 

 Syn, 38. Testudo subniger, Lacep. Q. 0.\. 175, t. 13. Latr. R. 

 i. 89,/. 1. Daud. Rept. ii. 197. Schweig. i. 315, n. 40. Terrape- 

 ne nigricans, Merrem, Tent. 28. Dum. et Bib. E. Gen. ii. 399. 

 Emys Couro, var. Schlegel, F. Jap. 64. 



Vertebral plates square, as long as broad, the fourth broader 

 than long : sternum contracted : muzzle rounded. 



a. Animal dry, shell worn. Africa. 



The Natal Sternotherus. Sternotherus castaneus, Gray, 

 Syn. R. 38. Dum. et Bib. E. G. ii. 401. Emys c. Schweig. Prod. 

 324, n. 38. E. Couro, var. Schlegel, F. Jap. 64. Test, subnigra, 

 /3. Daud. R. ii. 198. S. Leachianus, Bell, Z. Journ. ii. t. 14, 

 (young ?). S. sinuatus, A. Smith, Must. Zool. S. Afric. t.\, $ . 



Vertebral plates broad, nearly square, nearly as long as broad, 

 the fourth 6-sided, longer than broad. 



a, b. Adult, stuffed, 8-| inches. Port Natal. From Dr. Krauss' 

 collection. 



Lord Derby's Sternotherus. Sternotherus Derbianus. 



Shell oblong, convex, rounded ; vertebral shields narrow, 6- 

 sided, much longer than broad, the last subtriangular: head broad, 

 the parietal and vertical plates united into one ; muzzle bluntly 

 rounded ; the sternum broad, with the hinder portion scarcely con- 

 tracted in front, the front much rounded ; the central gular plate 

 broad ovate, angular behind. 



a. Adult stuffed. W. Africa, Sierra Leone ? Gambia. Presented 

 by the Earl of Derby. 



2. Pelomedusa, Wagler. 



Head much depressed, shielded with two narrow frontal shields, 

 separated by a groove, a large vertebral shield, and a large cheek 



E 



