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Show 654 DR. J. E. G R A Y O N N E W TORTOISES. [Juue 23, have sent to the Society a synopsis of them, founded on the examination of the specimens in the Museum. * Dorsal and ventral shields with pale and dark rays ; nuchal shield none. India. 1. PELTASTES STELLATUS. Thorax ovate, convex; dorsal shield grooved, with nine, fifteen, or more yellow rays; the lateral rays of the costal shields nearly parallel; marginal shields with four or more yellow rays ; sternum black, or dark brown, with numerous nearly uniform yellow rays ; nuchal plate none. Testudo stellata, Gray, Cat. Shield Rep. p. 7. T. elegans, Gunther, Rept. British India, p. 4 ; P. Z. S. 1869. T. geometric a, Hutton, Journ. As. Soc. Beng.vi. 1837, p. 689, t. 38. T. megalopus, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. xxii. 1865, p. 624. Hab. Scinde (Dr. Leith) ; Ceylon; Himalaya (Captain Boys). Var. 1. actinoides. The dorsal shields more or less convex, with fifteen or more yellow rays. Testudo actinoides, Bell, Zool. Journ. vol. iii. p. 419, tab. xiv., Testudinata, tab. ; Seba, vol. i. p. 126, t. 80. f. 3. T. stellata, var., Gray Cat. Shield Rep. p. 7. Var. 2. elegans. Shields black, with twelve rays ; costal shields with eight or nine rays. Young. Areolae of shields brown, large, four- or five-rayed ; sternal shields with a pale areola, and more or less broad black pale-rayed margin. Testudo elegans, Schcepf, Testud. t. xxv. figs. 1, 2, 3 (copied Shaw's Zool. ii. t. vi.) ; Schweigger, Prodromus, p. 86. T. stellata, Schweigger, p. 56 ; Gray, Syn. Rep. p. 12, t. 1. f. 1. La geometrique, Lacepede, p. 137, pl. ix.; Seba, Thesaurus, vol. i. p. 126, t. 80. f. 8. Hab. Ceylon and Scinde. Var. 3. maura. Shell very black ; costal shields with six or seven white rays. B.M, Young. Shields black, with a yellow four-rayed cross on the costal shields. B.M. Var. 4. sebce. Shell young; shields yellow ; areolae large, pale, with a black spot on the upper and lower margins and a long spot on the side margin over the suture between the shields; marginal shields pale, with a very narrow dark front margin. Seba, Thesaurus, vol. i. tab. 79. fig. 3. Schweigger changed the name of the species because he did not believe that the Tortoise figured by Seba was the young of the same species. See ' Prodomus,' p. 86. The specimens with many and with fewer rays are very distinct from each other ; and I have not found any specimens which seem to |
