testudinoidea

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. A superfamily of cryptodiran turtles. The skull is without parietosquamosal arch, and the squamosal is separated from the postorbitofrontal bone; there is a foramen palatinum between the maxilla and the palatine; the articular faces between the sixth and seventh cervical vertebræ are not plane, and two of the cervicals are biconvex; the nuchal is without well-developed costiform processes, and the series of inframarginals is incomplete. This superfamily includes the Eurydidæ (marsh-turtles) and the Testudinidæ (land-tortoises).