TESTUDINID^I. 101 



Ind.), ser. 10, vol. iii. p. 176, pi. xxi. figs. 4, 4 a, 4 6, as a 

 form allied to Nicoria (Clemmys) trijuga. The posterior 

 lobe of the plastron is wanting, and (as is shown by a 

 recent clearing of the matrix) the hypoplastrals were joined 

 to the carapace by a ligamentons attachment, as is the case 

 in some recent examples. The sntures between the bones 

 of the carapace are completely obliterated, as is the case 

 in a recent example showing a similar relation of the 

 hypoplastrals to the carapace. In the woodcut the contour 

 of the neurals has been restored in outline from Nicoria 

 trijuga, Cautley Collection. Presented, 1840. 



Genus PALiEOCHELYS, Meyer \ 



Neural bones of moderate length, the 1st oblong, the 2nd hexa- 

 gonal with short antero-lateral surfaces, the 3rd octagonal, the 4th 

 tetragonal, the 5th octagonal. Plastron extensively united to the 

 carapace by suture, with strong axillary and inguinal buttresses ; 

 sulcus between humeral and pectoral shields cutting entoplastral 

 bone. 



The Chelonian from the Lower Pliocene (Astien) of Piedmont 

 described by Sacco in the ' Mem. Ac. R. Torino,' vol. xxxix. p. 433, 

 pis. i., ii. (1889), as Emys portisi belongs to this genus, and shows 

 the characters of the plastron. 



This genus is readily distinguished from Nicoria and the Land- 

 Tortoises in that the octagonal neural bones are the 3rd and 5th in 

 place of the 2nd and 4th (compare fig. 12). Ptychogaster agrees 

 with the Land-Tortoises in this respect. 



Palseochelys bussenensis, Meyer 2 . 



The type species. Carapace with a very slight and discontinuous 

 median keel in the posterior region; vertebral shields relatively 

 wide. Plastron imperfectly known. Length of type carapace about 

 0,280 (11 inches). 



Hah. Europe (Germany). 



R. 1012. Slab showing the dorsal aspect of the crushed shell; from 

 (Fig.) the Lower Miocene (Upper Oligocene), near Bussen, Wiir- 

 temberg. The type specimen; described and figured by 

 Meyer in the ' Jahresh. Yer. Nat. Wiirtt.' vol. iii. p. 167, 

 pi. i. fig. 11. In the original figure, the sulci indicating 

 the boundaries of the epidermal shields are no shown. 



1 Jahresh. Ver. Nat. Wiirtt, vol. iii. p. 167 (1847). 



2 Loc. cit. 



