Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Reptilia and Batrachia).djvu/40

 between them, however, still require to be tested upon a larger number of specimens.

Hab. Ceylon ; Southern India ; Grodavari, Mahanadi, and their tributaries.

Emyda scutata, Peters, MB. Ak. BerL 1868, p. 449 ; Theob. Cat. p. 32 ; Bouleng. Cat. Chel. fyc. p. 270.

Emyda fuscomaculata, Gray, A. M. N. H. (4) xi, 1873, p. 308.

Very closely allied to E. yraiwsa and E. vittata, but anterior marginals less enlarged, less unequal in size, the first not larger than the second. Entoplastral callosity large or moderate. Brown above, carapace spotted or reticulated with darker.

Hab. Irrawaddy.

Neck bending by a sigmoid curve in a vertical plane ; cervical vertebrae without transverse processes or with mere indications of them ; centrum of the last cervical articulating with the centrum of the first dorsal. Mandible with articulary concavities ; outer border of tympanic cavity incompletely bony ; pterygoids narrow in the middle, in contact on the median line. Pelvis not anchylosed to the carapace and plastron. Digits with not more than three phalanges. Epiplastra in contact with hyoplastra ; entoplastron, if present, oval, rhomboidal, or T-shaped. A complete series of marginal bones, connected with the ribs.

Shell covered with epidermal shields. Caudal vertebra procoelous. Neck completely retractile within the shell. Parietal bones widely separated from squamosals. Digits short or moderately elongate ; phalanges with condyles ; claws four or five.

This family, which contains the bulk of recent Chelouians, is distributed over every part of the world except Australia. Ten genera are represented in the Indian Region.

A. Limbs club-shaped ; alveolar surface of upper jaw with a median ridge TESTUDO, p. 10.

B. Digits distinct, with at least a rudiment of web ; alveolar surface of upper jaw without median ridge. a. Head covered with undivided skin. a'. Plastron not hinged ; no bony temporal arch. GEOEMYDA, p. 23. V. Plastron not hinged ; a bony temporal arch. NICOEIA, p. 26. c'. Plastron hinged, movable ; a bony temporal arch CYCLEMYS, p. 28.