L. Forró szerk.: Miscellanea Zoologica Hungarica 9. 1994 (Budapest, 1994)

Farkas, B.: Notes on type and type locality of the narrow-headed softshell turtle, Chitra indica (Gray, 1831) (Testudines, Trionychidae)

another giant, externally somewhat similar species of softshell, Pelochelys bibroni (Owen, 1853) has been reported from the Malay Peninsula and Pulau Pinang (for distributional data of both species see Iverson [1992]), lending doubt as to the real identity of the specimen in question. However, its actual provenance is not known with certainty, and it was entered in the "Rough Minute Book" of the College listing donations to the Museum in 1817 (also containing entries for 1818) as "No. 903. Mr. Henderson. East Indies. Sept. 4th 1818. A specimen of the soft shell'd tortoise, called "mud-tortoise". (Brought by the General Kyd Indiaman, and died on its passage.) + Testudo membranacea. Nat. Hist. No. 1238.B". It is also not unlikely that it had in fact originated elsewhere, and had reached Penang, if at all, through human interference. According to Annandale (1912) "there is a Chinese temple on the island in which tortoises from many different parts of the Malay Archipelago are kept". Acknowledgments For their valuable help in tracing the actual specimen of Chitra indica, I am indebted to Colin J. McCarthy (Natural History Museum, London) and Elizabeth Alien (Royal College of Surgeons of England, London). The useful comments of James R. Buskirk (Oakland, CA) and Peter Paul van Dijk (University College Galway) on the manuscript are gratefully acknowledged. References Annandale, N. (1912): The Indian mud-turtles. - Ree. Indian Mus. 7: 151-180. Boulenger, G.A. (1889): Catalogue of the chelonians, rhynchocephalians, and crocodiles in the British Museum (Natural History). - Taylor & Francis, London, 311 pp. Gray, J.E. (1830-1835): Illustrations of Indian zoology; chiefly selected from the collection of Major-General Hardwicke, F.R.S. Volume I. - London. Gray, J.E. (1831a): A synopsis of the species of the class Reptilia. pp. 1-110. In: Griffith, E. & E. Pidgeon. The animal kingdom arranged in conformity with its organization by the baron Cuvier. Vol. 9. The class Reptilia arranged by the baron C. Cuvier, with specific descriptions. - Whittaker, Treacher & Co., London, 481 + 110 pp. Gray, J.E. (1831b): Synopsis Reptilium; or short descriptions of the species of reptiles. Part I. Cataphracta. Tortoises, crocodiles, and enaliosaurians. - Treuttel, Wurtz & Co., etc., London, 85 pp. Gray, J.E. (1864): Revision of the species of Trionychidae, found in Asia and Africa, with the description of some new species. - Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1864: 76-98. Gray, J.E. (1873): Notes on the mud-tortoises (Trionyx Geoffroy), and on the skulls of the different kinds. - Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1873: 38-72. Iverson, J.B. (1986): A checklist with distribution maps of the turtles of the World. — Privately printed, Richmond, viii + 282 pp. Iverson, J.B. (1992): A revised checklist with distribution maps of the turtles of the World. — Privately printed, Richmond, xiii + 363 pp. Mertens, R. (1969): Die Amphibien und Reptilien West-Pakistans. - Stuttg. Beitr. Naturk 197: 1-96. Minton, S.A. (1966): A contribution to the herpetology of West Pakistan. - Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 134: 29-184. Owen, R. (1859): Descriptive catalogue of the specimens of natural history in spirit contained in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Vertebrata: Pisces, Reptilia, Aves, Mammalia. - Taylor & Francis, London. Siebenrock, F. (1909): Synopsis der rezenten Schildkröten, mit Berücksichtigung der in historischer Zeit ausgestorbenen Arten. - Zool. Jahrb., Suppl. 10: 427-618.