44 



GUIDE TO REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS. 



Pig. 47. 



Upper and Lower views of Skull of Luth, or Leathery Turtle (Dermochelys 

 coriacea), showing the absence of a secondary floor to the palate and the 

 consequent forward position of the posterior nostrils. 



is no plastron. The Luth is met with in all tropical seas, though 

 it is everywhere rare ; specimens are occasionally carried by the 

 Gulf Stream as far north as England. In spring these Turtles 

 resort to the Bahamas, Tortugas, and the coast of Brazil, to lay 

 their eggs on sandy shores. They are exclusively carnivorous, 

 feeding chiefly upon mollusks, crustaceans and fishes. The flesh 

 is unwholesome. This species is represented in the gallery by the 

 cast of a fine specimen (180) caught on the coast of Trevandrum, 

 Travancore, India, and presented by the director of the Trevandrum 

 Museum, and also by the skeleton shown in fig. 45. Remains of a 

 much larger extinct species (Eosphargis gigas) occur in the London 

 clay. 



The accompanying illustrations (figs. 47 and 48) are intended 

 to show the remarkable difference of the bony palate of the Luth 

 from that of ordinary Turtles. 



