CHELONIA. 



mal," is suggestive of a closer relationship to LepidocMys than to 



Chelonia. 



The specimen from California, referred to Chelonia virgata by 

 Agassiz, exhibits the same generical affinities. A further study of 

 them, together with a comparison of specimens from the various loca- 

 lities where they are said to occur, will undoubtedly reveal some curi- 

 ous results. We subjoin the following references : 



g YN . Chelonia virgata, Scnw. Prodr. Monogr. Chelon. in Arch. Kcenigsb. I, 1812, 

 291 & 411. Cuv. Regn. anim. 2d ed. II, 1829, 14. Gue>. Iconogr. du Regn. anim. 

 1834, Kept. Tab. I, fig. 4. BUM. & BIBR. Erpet. gen. II, 1835, 541. GRAY, Catal. 

 Tort. Croc. & Amphisb. Brit. Mus. 1844, 54 ; &, Catal. Shield. Kept. Brit. Mus. I, 

 1855, 74. CANTOR, Catal. Kept. Malay. Penins. 1847, 11. AGASS. Contr. Nat. Hist. 

 U. S. Amer. I, 1857, 379. 



It is easier to conceive how a sea-turtle might, from the eastern 

 coast of Asia, reach the Red Sea, than its passage from the same coast 

 to California, or vice versa. 



GENUS CARETTA, MERE. 



GEN. CHAR. Head small, anteriorly compressed and tapering for- 

 wards; snout declivous and protruding; jaws robust, with a blunt 

 and even margin, which is nearly horizontal to the tips. Two pairs 

 of frontal plates; a vertex plate and one pair of parietals; a middle 

 occipital, rather large; two pairs of latero-occipitals, and one pair 

 of postoccipitals. Three postoculars. Mental shields none. Side 

 of lower jaw with an elongated plate. Carapax cordate, ovate, 

 covered with thirteen imbricated shields ; marginal shields twenty- 

 five, constituting posteriorly a serrated edge. Plastron, with six 

 middle pairs of shields, and four lateral ones; several postaxillars. 

 Two claws to either flipper. 



SYN. Caretta, MERR. Tent. Syst. Amph. 1820, 17. Frrz. Neue Class. Kept. 1826, 

 5. BONAP. Amph. Europ. &c. 1839, 12. GRAY, Catal. Tort. Croc. & Amphisb. Brit. 

 Mus. 1844, 53; &, Catal. Shield. Kept. Brit. Mus. I, 1855, 73. 



Chelonees imlriquees, DUM. & BIBR. Erpet. gen. II, 1835, 547. 



Cheloniae imbricatae, CANTOR, Catal. Rept. Malay. Penins. 1847, 12. 



Erelmochelys, FITZ. Syst. Kept. I, 1843, 30. AGASS. Contr. Nat. Hist. U. S. Amer. 

 I, 1857, 380. 



