04 FIERCE TORTOISE. 



may stand together on its shell: the pieces com- 

 posing the disk are subquadrate ; those of the bor- 

 der parallelogrammic : the colour variegated with 

 black and green ; the lower shell blackish, spotted 

 Avith white. 



FIERCE TORTOISE. 



Testudo Ferox. T. testa cartilaginca ovata, pedum unguibus 



tribus^ naribus tubidatis prominentibus. Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel. 



p> 1039. P^/in. Act. Angl. 61. p. 266. f. 10. 

 Tortoise with ovate, cartilaginous shell, three claws on the feet, 



and tubular, prominent nostrils, 

 Testudo rostrata? T. testa orbictilari ovata, monophylla, cori- 



acea, carhiatc/, rvgis obliquis e pujiciis elevatis striata, scabra. 



Sckoepf. Test. 93. /. 20? 

 T. pedibus palmatis, testa ititegra, carinata, ekvato-striata, scabra ? 



Thunberg. Nov. Act. Acad. Suec. 8. p. 179. 

 T, cartilaginea? Boddaert. Schr. Berl. Nat. 3. p. 265. 

 T. Boddaerti ? Schneid. Leipz. Mag. z. Nat. Sf Oec. 1786. 

 T. triunguis ? Forslc. Fn. Arab. g. 

 T. membranacea ? Blumenb. Natur. p. 257. 



This remarkable species is distinguished by the 

 unusual nature of its shield, which is hard or 

 osseous on the middle part only, while the edges 

 gradually degenerate into a flexible coriaceous 

 verge : this shield is obscurely marked with five 

 or six transverse bands, and granulated with small 

 warts or prominences, which gradually enlarge as 

 they approach the leathery or flexible edge : the 

 head is rather small, and of an unusual shape, 

 being somewhat trfgonal, with the snout very 

 much lengthened, and the upper part drawn out, 

 as it were, into a subcylindric form, terminated 



