No. 6. — On certain Species of Chelonioidce. By Samuel Garman. 



In this notice three species of Sea Turtles are mentioned, of which 

 two are supposed to be new. 



About three years ago, Richard M. Kemp, of Florida, directed my 

 attention to a peculiar Turtle, commonly called the " Bastard," found 

 in the Gulf of Mexico, and said to be a cross between the Green and 

 Loggerhead, Chelonia mydas and Thalassochelys caouana. At a later 

 date he secured for the Museum a pair of fine specimens, which furnish 

 the material for a description given below. In consideration of the 

 great interest Mr. Kemp takes in matters pertaining to natural history, 

 it is most appropriate that the species he has been the means of bring- 

 ing into notice should bear his name. 



There is considerable likelihood that the other species, of which de- 

 scriptions are given, have heretofore been considered as one, Chelonia 

 virgata. If this has been the case, a very slight comparison of the 

 characters assigned will convince any one of the necessity of separation. 

 Of the various names that have been applied by different authors to 

 C. virgata, none can be said with certainty to belong to the flat, broad 

 species which has probably been associated with it. Consequently, it is 

 thought better to apply a name not previously employed in connection 

 with either of them, thus avoiding confusion, rather than to make use 

 of a synonyme concerning which there will always exist more or less 

 doubt. 



Thalassochelys Kempii sp. nov. 



Body depressed, short, broad, subcircular, with a slight concavity over the 

 lateral marginal plates of the carapace, and without the prominent rounded 

 hump on the vertebral series over the pelvis or shoulder girdle, as in T. caou- 

 ana. Head intermediate in size between that of T. caouana and that of 

 Chelonia mydas, crown slightly convex. There is a shallow depression from the 

 eye forward. Looking from above, the outline of the face is much more convex 

 than in either of the species cited. A low, broad, rounded ridge extends from the 

 nostrils to the point on the end of the beak. The lateral outline of the jaws 



VOL. VI. — NO. 6. 



