70 MANUAL OF NATUKAL HISTORY. 



neck long, broad, contractile ; feet webbed ; 

 toes 5-5 ; claws 5-5, 5-4, or 4-4, elongate, 

 acute ; shell depressed ; pelvis attached to 

 vertebrae and sternum ; sternal shields 13. 



4. Family. — ■ Soft-Tortoises (Trionycidse). Head 



flattened, ovate ; eyes small, superior ; jaws 

 horny, with dependant fleshy lips ; nostrils 

 elongated into a thin cylindrical trunk ; neck 

 long, contractile ; feet palmate, short, strong; 

 toes 5-5, short, expanded, webbed ; two outer 

 clawless ; claws 3-3, acute ; tail short, conical, 

 simple ; bones covered with a soft skin with 

 a flexible margin ; pelvis attached to verte- 

 brae ; eggs spherical. 



5. Family. — Turtles (Cheloniidse). Head globose, 



shielded ; nostrils rather tubular ; jaws 

 horny, naked ; neck short, sub-retractile ; 

 feet very long, not retractile, compressed, fin- 

 shaped ; toes depressed, with flat claws ; tail 

 short, thick ; shell low, cordate, with a de- 

 fined bony margin. 



II. ORDER — Emydosaumans (Emydosauria). 



Head large, covered with a thin skin ; ears linear; 

 gape wide ; tongue short ; jaws with a single series 

 of conical teeth ; nostrils small, anterior ; eyes small ; 

 body fusiform, covered with square bony plates in 

 longitudinal lines ; limbs 4, free ; tail compressed 

 vent linear, longitudinal. 

 1. Family. — Oavials (Gavialidse). Muzzle very long, 



