In the female, these parts haye an oIìto tinge, espeoially on the chin and ihroatj
and the former is spotted with orange. The skin of the axillary region, and the base
of the neek and the inner surface of the limbs, and the corresponding part of the
hind limbs and hind quarters are pale greyish in the male, with a decided yellowish
tinge in the female ; the scales on the lower division of the upper and under surface
of the limbs of both sexes being wholly black. In the female, the insides of the
limbs are yellowish, involving the large rows of soales that occur on these parts,
which in the male are ooncolorous with the grey under surfaces. The claws are jet
black. The iris is dark brown, almost black.
The skull differs somewhat from the skull of the Indian examples of the
species in the stronger denticulation of the jaws, but this character is^ variable
throughout the varieties. In other respects the skulls of all the varieties are, I
find, specifically identical, after a careful consideration of them and an attempt
to discover specific characters by which to separate them.
Dr. Gray on two occasions figured skulls which he referred to this speoies.
Of his first figure he remarked:—“ Skull figured as Emys trijuga, Gray, Cat.
Sh. Sept., B. M., t. 37, f. 2 (“ B. mbtrijuga, figure not good, zygomatic arch
too broad and extending to the ear bone”).1 As Dr. Gray did not state from whence
the skull was obtained, and as he acknowledged the inaccuracy of the figure, it is
impossible to say what species it may represent. He gave the source of his second
figure as Dr. Oldham, but does not mention whence Dr. Oldham obtained it, but
as Dr. Oldham presented specimens of natural history to the British Museum both
from India and from Burma, the skull may be from one or other of those widely
different regions. This second figure does not agree any more than the former
with the skulls which I have removed from the bodies of Madras and Ceylon
examples of JEmys trijuga, and no more does it agree with the skull of ; this
Burmese variety. One of' the faults Dr. Gray found with his first figure was that
the zygomatic arch was represented as reaching to the ‘ ear bone, but the same
feature dcciiis also in Dr. Gray’s second figure.
The skull of the female is slightly narrower in its anterior half than the male
skull. The upper surface of the adult skull is perfectly fiat, and the nasal portion is
not depressed, but in young specimens there is a slight swelling over the pre-frontals,
and the extremities of these bones are slightly arched from side to side. The orbits
are large, oval, dilated anteriorly, and rather pointed posteriorly. The naso-orbital
region is narrow, but below that, the orbital surface of the maxilla is triangular.
The infra-orbital area is shallow. The jugal is very narrow and spicciar, and the
post-frontal is of moderate breadth, and nearly twice as broad as the quadrato-jugal,
which is so small that it is apt to be lost. The nasal cavity is truncatedly triangular,
broad above, narrow below. The premaxUlaries are very narrow, and flattened
in the mesial-line, as they are partially separated by a shallow notch with
a feeble denticulation external to it in the young skulls, but which in the
adult becomes reduced to a slight, hardly perceptible swelling. The maxillaTy
1 Suppl. Cat. Sh. Repfc., 1871, p. 34.
margin is very slightly curved inwards, being nearly vertical in its posterior half,
but more downwardly shelving anteriorly. The premaxillary pit is shallow, and
the premaxillary foramina are situated at the anterior end of the inner margin of
the alveolar plate. The latter is slightly grooved externally and convex internally,
and its breadth is less than one-half of the least breadth of the pterygoid.
The nasal canals are obliquely oval at their palatine termination, and are continued
backwards as far as the anterior end of the large oval palatine foramen.
The palatine and pterygoids are slightly concave, the breadth of the pterygoid
contraction is equal to one-half of the interval between the anterior external
processes of the pterygoid. The distance between the mandibular facets of the
quadrates equals the length from the occipital facet to the end of the basi-
sphenoid, which is rather elongated and reaches to the middle of the pterygoid
contraction. The depression on the under surface of the basi-occipital is well
defined anteriorly. The occipital spine is long and nearly straight, and the temporal
area externally is rather narrow from above downwards, somewhat posteriorly
elongated and slightly upward bent at its hinder end. ■ The mandible has an upwardly
pointed symphysis; the symphysial breadth is moderate, being nearly equal
to the height of the posterior end of the coronoid. The outside of the ramus to
the coronoid is concavely bevelled off. The alveolar surfaces are narrow and present
one groove, each rising up posteriorly to the coronoid. The latter is less than twice
the height of the narrowest portion of the ramus.
The vertebral centres are rather strong and short, and there are 3 sacral and 22
caudal vertebrae, the tail vertebrae of the male being considerably larger and longer
than in the female. The first caudal transverse process is directed backwards close
to the ilium and behind the third, but it does not reach the pelvis. In the second
cervical vertebra there are occasionally two small ossicles developed at the posterior
extremity, one on either side of the dorsal spine.
In females, 6"* 2 in length of carapace, the pubis and ischium are thoroughly
amalgamated, not even a transverse suture being visible, and the longitudinal' pubo-
ischial suture is all but lost. In males of the same size, the pelvis is similarly
advanced, but the divergent anterior extremities of the pubis, which in the female
are separated by cartilages, are entirely united. The pubic region of the male is
narrower and more pointed than in the female, and the ischial border of the latter
is broader and less downwardly curved than in the former, and the iliac orifice
is broader in the female than in the male.
The manus is broad, with short digits, and a distinct intermedium. The interspace
between the radius and ulna is wide and crescentic. The 5th toe of the
hind foot has two phalanges, of which the last is very small.
The tongue is densely covered with filiform papillae. The free fold external to
the laryngeal orifice, defines a broad triangular surface. Immediately behind the
hyoid arch, the oesophagus is marked by a small area of numerous wavy rugae,
the anterior termination and convergence of the well-marked longitudinal folds of
the oesophagus. There is no trace of papilliform appendages. The stomach presents