356 



CHELONIA 



CHAP. 



yellow below and on the throat, a contrast which gives this 

 tortoise a striking appearance. This species is extremely voracious, 

 becomes easily tame, and spends a great part of the day on land, 

 hiding under grass to avoid great heat, and withdrawing into the 

 water for the night. 



Clemmys. The plastron is immovably united with the 

 carapace, and is devoid of any transverse hinge. The skull has 

 a complete bony temporal arch. This genus, consisting of eight 

 species, is otherwise very much like Emys, and is truly Periarctic. 



C. leprosa s. sigris (Fig. 79). The upper jaw has a median 

 notch for the reception of the upturned point of the lower jaw ; 



F IG> 80. Skull of Clemmys leprosa. x f . A, dorsal view ; B, from the left side ; F* 

 frontal ; J, jugal ; M, maxillary ; Par, parietal ; Pr.f, prefrontal ; Pt.f, postfrontal, 

 Q, quadrate, tyj, quadrato-jugal ; Sq, squamosal. 



the cutting edges of the powerful beak are smooth. The shell is 

 flat and long-oval, nowhere serrated. The plastron does not quite 

 fill the box. In the young the shell is nearly round, and the 

 horny shields form three series of keels, of which the lateral pair 

 disappear early ; the shields are olive-brown, each with an orange 

 spot or streak ; the plastron is dark brown, with a yellowish 

 margin. The adult looks very different. The shell has become 

 much more oval, with the greatest width behind the bridge. The 

 long shields are smooth, and in elderly specimens are without 

 any trace of the original connective rings of growth. The general 

 colour of the shell is uniform pale olive-grey, inclining to yellow 

 on the plastron. The ground-colour of the soft parts is olive- 

 grey, but the sides of the head are adorned with orange -red or 

 yellow marks, the patch between the eye and ear and three or 



