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edge of the lower jaw is not serrate. It is said to grow to 

 a length of six feet or more. This species is of a brown 

 olive color above, the shell of not much value as " tor- 

 toise." It is occasionally hooked by anglers on our shores. 

 Its distribution is wide along our Atlantic coast from Mas- 

 sachusetts to Brazil ; in Europe from Scotland southwards, 

 as well as in the Mediterranean Sea. The flesh is not very 

 palatable, but the eggs are sought for. It does not breed 

 as far north as our local shores. 



Chelonia mydas (L.). 



Green Turtle. 



The carapace plates are thin and not imbricate. The 

 limbs are paddle-like, with a single nail on each foot. The 

 lower jaw has a cutting edge. The animal is herbivorous. 

 The color of the upper parts is dusky greenish or olive. 

 This turtle, which is occasionally taken on our shores, 

 though only small specimens, grows to a weight of, it is 

 said, a thousand pounds off the southern Florida coast. 

 Its range is from Rhode Island to Brazil. On the other 

 side of the Atlantic its range is said to be southward along 

 the west coast of Africa, as well as northward to England. 

 The breeding season lasts from April to July, when they 

 lay their eggs on the Florida and West India shores. In 

 addition to the food value of the flesh and eggs, the latter 

 also are used for making oil. 



Family Trionychidee. Soft-shelled or River Turtles. 



Here the limbs are no longer paddle-shaped ; the feet 

 are capable of free movements. The body is flat, the 

 carapace not fully ossified ; along the margin of the body 

 the tough covering skin is quite flexible owing to the 

 absence of dermal bones. The neck and head are long 

 the snout pointed and tubular. The feet are broadly 

 webbed. The plastron consists of nine bones. 



