668 REPTILES — TEI0NYCHIDJ3J. 



mandible compressed laterally, and extended forward ; mandibular edges sharp ; nos- 

 trils sitnated under rather than at the end of the proboscis; nasal septam smooth or 

 ■without any transversely projecting ridge. 



Amtda mutica LeSneur. 



Lieatliery Turtle. 



Trionyx muiiout, LkSueuk, LeConte, ICiktland, DkKat, Gkat. 

 Gymnopus mutica, Dumejiil and Bibron. 

 Amyda mutica, Agassiz, Cope, Jokdan. 



Color of upper parts olivaceous to browp, with darker spots upon the carapax ; 

 beneath more or less whitish loithout ipots or mottled marks; carapax oval, smooth, 

 depressed along the verteiral line instead of carinate ; anterior margin of carapax naked, 

 that is without spines or tubercles ; anterior feet with three broad scales which are 

 acute above and anteriorly, and with two oblong tubercles behind; tail short; young 

 with band on the head and neck. Length, 8 inches. 



Habitat, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Missouri. 

 This species seems to have its range over the waters of the Mississippi, 

 and also of the Great Lakes, being according to LeSueur common in 

 Lakes Erie and Ontario. In the State it also occurs in the Ohio River. 

 The tail in the males is longer than in the females ; in the latter it 

 does not extend beyond the margin of the carapax. 



Genus ASPIDONECTES. Wagler. 



Head broader than in Amyda, curving rapidly downward from a line between the 

 orbits; mandibles corneous, narrow, and nearly straight ; nostrils terminal, with a trans- 

 verse projection upon each side of the septum ; mouth broader and rounder than in 

 Amyda ; feet very broadly palmate, with three claws on each exserted. 



AspiDONECTES spiNiFEB LeSucur. 



Soft-slielled Turtle. 



Trionyx spiniferus, LeStjeuk. 



Trionyx ocellatus, LeSueur. 



Trionyx ferox, Kirtland, DeKat, not of Schweigger and others. 



Aspidonectes ftrox, Wagler. 



Gymnopus epim/erus, Dumeril and Bibron. 



Aspidonectes epinijer, ACASsiz, Cope, Jordan, Coues, Yarrow. 



Color of carapax dark slate, with ocellate spots above, and often with black dots 

 along the margin ; plastron creamy white ; head and neck dark above, light brown, or a 

 marbling of black and white beneath ;a light stripe extends from the eye backward ; cara- 

 pax with a vertebral ridge slightly elevated, its center hard, its margins soft with the ribs 

 projecting ; costal plates eight on a side, distinct in adult ; anterior margin of carapax mth 

 a row cf spines or denticulated ; fore limbs with transverse elevations ; feet large and 

 very broadly palmate ; claws on each, three ; tail anterior to anus very thick, beyond 



