SIWALIK AND NARBADA CHELONIA. 
35—189 
shell of the present form appears somewhat more vaulted than in any living species 
of the gen, us. The presence of a nuchal plate differentiates the present form from 
group B, while the shortness of its dth vertebral plate distinguishes it from the first 
section (a) of group A ; and there accordingly only remain B. basJca and B. thurgi 
with which it can be compared. From the former it is broadly distinguished by the 
shape of the 1st vertebral jDlate, the presence of a vertebral keel, and the straight 
suture betweenThe postgulars and pectorals. With the latter the fossil agrees very 
closely in general characters ; nailiely, in the general shape of the shell, the sharply 
ascending anterior profile, the general form of the nuchal and vertebral plates, the 
inclusion of a portion of three vertebral scutes within the space covered by the 3rd 
vertebral plate, the straight line formed by the suture between the postgulars and 
pectorals ; and the very distinct areolae on the carapace. These points of resemblance 
evidently indicate that the fossil and recent dorms are closely allied. The former is, 
however, distinguished by the higher vaulting of the carapace, the greater width of 
the shell, and the greater convexity of the plastron ; while its point of greatest 
height is situated more posteriorly : the nuchal plate is, moreover, narrower, the 1st 
vertebral decidedly bell-shaped, and the vertebral keel much less distinctly marked 
on the anterior portion. It is difficult to decide whether these differences should be 
regarded as of specific or varietal value ; but as the multiplication of varietal names 
seems inadvisable, and as it is desirable to mark the Siwalik form by a distinct name, 
it is regarded as a species, which it is proposed to term Balagur falconeri. 
This species may be pretty safely regarded as the ancestor of B. thurgi ; and 
the more vaulted shell of this and next Siwalik species perhaps indicates a closer 
affinity between the fossil species of Balagur and certain species of Clemmgs {e.g. 
C. palceindica and C. hamiltoni) than exists between the living representatives of the 
two genera. 
Cranium provisionally referred to this species. — The difficulty of specifically 
correlating the crania and shells of fossil tortoises when there is a, considerable 
number of species belonging to the same genus is extremely great, but in the case 
of the specimen to be now noticed there is a very strong presumption for its reference 
to the present species. 
The cranium represented of three-fourths the natural size in plate XXV. figs. 
2. 2a. 2b. was obtained by Mr. Theobald from the Siwaliks of Asnot, and is in a 
very perfect state of preservation ; its chief injuries being the loss of the extremity 
of the supraoccipital spine, of the alveolar border of the right maxilla, and several 
fractures of the fronto-parietal region. If the figures of the fossil cranium be 
compared with those of the skulls of four species of Batagur given in Gray’s 
“ Supplement to the Catalogue of Shield-Reptiles,” pt. I. pp. 52, 54, 55, and 59, 
there will be no doubt that the former belongs to the present genus. A closer 
comparison will also show’' that it is with the cranium of Batagur thurgi., rather than 
with any of the other species, that the fossil specimen agrees. Gray describes the 
