CHORDATA 321 



Order 2. Rhynchocephalia 



The Rhynchocephalia (Gr. pvyxos, snout, and ice^aXi), head) 

 are represented by a single animal, Hatteria (or Sphenodon) 

 punctata (Fig. 324), found in New Zealand. It is lizard-like in 

 appearance, green with yellow spots above and whitish below, 

 and about half a meter in length. The tail is long, the body 



Fig. 324. Hatteria punctata. (After Brehm, from Parker and Harwell's Manual.) 



scaly, the cloacal opening a transverse slit, and there are no 

 copulatory organs. The legs are pentadactyl and adapted to 

 walking. It is an important animal because of its fossil rela- 

 tions. As it is largely eaten by natives it will doubtless soon 

 become extinct itself. 



Order 3. Chelonia 



The Chelonia (Gr. x e ^ vi h turtle), consisting of the turtles and 

 tortoises as they are popularly called, form a group sharply 

 marked off from the other reptiles. The two common names 

 are now applied to any member of the order ; at one time the 

 term turtle seems to have been restricted to the marine species. 

 While in all the other orders the body is elongated, here it is 

 short and stout, and is provided with upper and lower shields 

 (Fig. 325); these consist in part of flattened portions of the 

 vertebra] column and ribs, and in part of dermal bones. The 

 dorsal shield is called the carapace, the ventral the plastron, and 

 they are generally covered with the horny epidermis, which in 

 some of the larger turtles is called tortoise shell. The head 



