438 CHELONIA. 



mal," is suggestive of a closer relationship to Lepidochelys than to 

 Clielonia, 



The specimen from California, referred to Ghelonia mrgata by 

 Agassiz, exhibits the same generical affinities. A further study of 

 them, together with a comparison of specimens from the various loca- 

 lities where they are said to occur, will undoubtedly reveal some curi- 

 ous results. We subjoin the following references : 



Syn. — Chelonia virgata, ScHW. Prodr. Monogr. Chelon. in Arch. Koenigsb. I, 1812, 

 291 & 411.— Cuv. R^gD. anim. 2d ed. II, 1829, 14.— Guer, Iconogr. du R^gn. anim. 

 1834, Rept. Tab. i, fig. 4.— Dum. & Bibr. Erpet. g^n. II, 1835, 541.— Gray, Catal. 

 Tort. Croc. & Amphisb. Brit. Mus. 1844, 54 ; &, Catal. Shield. Rept. Brit. Mus. I, 

 1855, 74.— Cantor, Catal. Rept. Malay. Penins. 1847, 11.— Agass. Contr. Nat. Hist. 

 U. S. Amer. I, 1857, 379. 



It is easier to conceive how a sea-turtle might, from the eastern 

 coast of Asia, reach the Red Sea, than its passage from the same coast 

 to California, or vice versa. 



Genus CARETTA, Merr. 



Gen. Char. — Head small, anteriorly compressed and tapering for- 

 wards; snout declivous and protruding; jaws robust, with a blunt 

 and even margin, which is nearly horizontal to the tips. Two pairs 

 of frontal plates; a vertex plate and one pair of parietals; a middle 

 occipital, rather large; two pairs of latero-occipitals, and one pair 

 of postoccipitals. Three postoculars. Mental shields none. Side 

 of lower jaw with an elongated plate. Carapax cordate, ovate, 

 covered with thirteen imbricated shields ; marginal shields twenty- 

 five, constituting posteriorly a serrated edge. Plastron, with six 

 middle pairs of shields, and four lateral ones ; several postaxillars. 

 Two claws to either flipper. 



Syn.— CareWa, Merr. Tent. Sjst. Am ph. 1820, 17.— Fitz. Neue Class. Rept. 1826, 

 5.— BoNAP. Amph. Europ. &c. 1839, 12.— Gray, Catal. Tort. Croc. & Amphisb. Brit. 

 Mus. 1844, 53 ; &, Catal. Shield. Rept. Brit. Mus. I, 1855, 73. 



Ghelonees imbriquees, Dum. & Bibr. Erpet. gen. II, 1835, 547. 



Cheloniae imbricatae, Cantor, Catal. Rept. Malay. Penins. 1847, 12. 



Eretmochehjs, FiTZ. Syst. Rept. i, 1843, 30.— Agass. Contr. Nat. Hist. U. S. Amer. 

 I, 1857; 380. 



