1873.] DR. j. E.GRAY ON THE GENERA OF TURTLES. 407 



Sfari^ bE* 1 th ° Ught ^ ** that 1 thiS mi S ht bea » ^dividual 

 peculiarity; but it appears common to the group ; for it is eau-illv 



SsThe'Ltjh^ 11 ^ adUU 8h f-' hl a ^ one^ab^nS 

 long g f thC fomer ' and m a vei 7 y° u "S °°e five inches 



The dorsal shield of this genus is very thin, more like a thin 



th rough ^ It,e - bhe11 ; and lfc allows «" sutures of the bone to be seen 

 Fitzinger in his ' Systema Reptilian,,' p. 30, gives two generic 



vacea. As I wanted a generic name, I have emploved the first name 

 and given it a proper character; but I have no doubt that win b e 



Lure aS ge gPnUS ' alth ° Ugh his Character is » ot taken from 



This genus differs from the genera Caouana, Caretta, and Chelonia 

 in the number of head-shields that it possesses. 



1. Lepidochelys olivacea, Gray, Hand-list Tort. p. 91. 



There is a nearly adult animal and shell of this species in the 

 Bntish Museum. There is also a dorsal shell of a spec m n newly 

 adult bu only 18 inches long, from Cape York, vlchTas 7oi 

 gated vertebral plates like the former specimen. This specimen™ 

 peculiar or having six vertebral shields ; but the three hfnTr a 



th7nl° »h \ , and - ixth , bein « mUch Sh0rter *« broad, and 

 the ) fifth about as broad as long. They appear to be merely a 



malformation of the fourth and fifth shields' in the more adult 

 specimens. " uu '° 



The keel is compressed and very high on the hinder half of the 

 first and second and only slightly marked on the hinder part of he 



S *WU m C hlnde - and / r ° nt P art 0f the fourth and fifth ve! 

 tebral shields the position of the two lateral plates being caused b> 

 the unusual division of these plates. The hinder or caudal shields 



genuTi^> ng and ^^ ap P r0achi "S t0 What *V -e inthe 

 There is also in the British Museum a youn- specimen of rl,P 

 genus from the Philippine Islands which ap'pearl to ? beW to the 

 species ; the back is three-keeled, the keel of the vertebraf plates 

 which are broader than long, being the highest ; it has seven costal 

 shields on each side The sternum is bluntly keeled on each sTde 

 S beak 1S '•ajher shorter than in the adult specimen in the 

 Bn ish Museum and it has a narrower elongate plate on each s de 

 behind it; but this plate is very unlike the large elongate oolona 

 shield on the side of the jaw of Chelonia. ™"o*™ oblong 



The beak of the lower jaw appears to be smaller than in the adult 

 animal ; and in this respect it is something like the genus Caouana 



t^ockll^ l0WGr bCak SmaUer C ° m P ared With that of the Idult 



In th>s specimen there is a small square shield interjected between 

 the fourth and fifth vertebral shields. oecween 



