42 TORTOISES, TERRAPINS, AND TURTLES 



with lofty hills of bone, and its extremely broad and flat 

 neck looks as if a roller had gone over it and flattened it 

 out. Each side of the neck is ornamented with rows of 

 ragged filaments of skin that look quite as if they were 

 made to be bitten off by the voracious and deadly saw- 

 bellied salmon. This very odd reptile is brownish gray and 

 it is destitute of colors, but when you are vexed by a gnaw- 

 ing South American hunger it makes a very palatable stew. 

 This is not a large terrapin. The shell of a full-grown 

 specimen is only about 14 inches in length, and its neck 

 measures about 3 by 5 inches. 



THE SOFT-SHELLED "TURTLES" 



Trionychidae 



This Family is of ancient lineage, and wide distribution, 

 its members being found in the rivers of Asia, Africa and 

 North America. Wherever found they may be recognized 

 by very flat and nearly circular shells that are imperfectly 

 ossified, both above and below, and which terminate at the 

 edges in thin plates of leathery skin. The nose is prolonged 

 into a decided proboscis, and the neck is long and flexible. 

 In some species (found in Australia) the neck is so very long 

 it cannot be withdrawn into the shell, but in times of danger- 

 it is laid away snugly under the upper edge of the shell, 

 passing over one fore leg. 



The members of this Family present many anatomical 

 exceptions to the regular order of form among tortoises and 

 terrapins, and by some authors they are placed at the foot 

 of the Order Chelonia. The shell is really very imperfect, 



