366 CHELONIA 



CHAP. 



The nuchal shield is narrow. The fifth or last neural shield is 

 much broader than the others. The supracaudal is usually 

 divided in the median line, so that this is really the last pair of 

 marginals. The plastron is notched behind ; the axillary and 

 inguinal shields are small. The scales on the anterior surface of 

 the fore-limbs are small, and form from half-a-dozen to ten longi- 

 tudinal rows. The hinder surface of the thigh is quite smooth. 

 The tip of the tail ends in a conical, horny spur. The colora- 

 tion of the shell varies somewhat, but the ground - colour is 

 yellow, each shield with a dark brown centre and irregular 

 patches or confluent spots towards the margin. The plastron 

 has an irregular, broad black border. The soft parts are grey- 

 yellowish. Some specimens are rather pale, almost lemon 

 yellow with little black ; others incline towards orange with 

 more or less black. The middle fields of the shields of young 

 specimens are granular, although this area is rubbed smooth 

 with age; but the rest shows clearly marked concentric lines of 

 growth. The eyes are dark, with a brown or bluish tinge, 

 sometimes inclining to dark grey in very old specimens. 



Full-grown females have a shell six inches in length. This 

 species inhabits the northern half of the Balkan Peninsula, parts 

 of Asia Minor and Syria, Italy, and most of the islands of the 

 Mediterranean, from the Grecian Archipelago to the Balearic 

 Islands. 



T. ibera is closely allied to T. graeca, from which it differs 

 chiefly in the following points. The last pair of marginal 

 shields are fused into an unpaired supracaudal, the median line 

 of division being almost obliterated. The fifth neural shield is 

 not broader, and generally a little narrower than the others. 

 The posterior lobe of the plastron develops with age a transverse 

 ligamentous hinge, and is thus rendered slightly movable, 

 especially in the females. The posterior margin of the carapace 

 is slightly expanded in old specimens. The scales of the 

 fore-limb are large and imbricating, and form only four or five 

 longitudinal rows. On the middle of the exposed posterior 

 surface of the thighs the skin carries a strong, conical, horny 

 tubercle. The coloration is much like that of T. graeca, except 

 that the yellow of the young inclines to pale olive. Some 

 specimens are uniform brownish. This species reaches a much 

 larger size than T. graeca, old females often measuring eight inches, 



