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FURTHER NOTES ON THE EAUNA OF THE GALAPAGOS 



ISLANDS. 



Br THE HON. WALTER ROTHSCHILD akd ERNST HARTERT. 



(Plate X.) 

 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 



SINCE we wrote * about the birds collected by the Webster-Harris exjiedition, 

 three more e.xpeditioQs have been engaged in zoological collecting on the 

 Galapagos Islands, and the}- have all added to our knowledge, esjiecially to that of 

 the Giant Land-Tortoises of these islands. Mr. Harris brought away specimens 

 of two species only, but throngh the recent expeditions we now know that five, or 

 ]iossibly six, species are still in existence. 



Messrs. Heller and Snodgrass, of the Hojikins-Stanford expedition to the 

 Galapagos Islands, obtained 26 tortoises — namely, S Testinh epiiippiiim from 

 Duncan Island, 4 T. microphjes from the neighbourhood of Tagus Cove in Central 

 Albemarle, and 14 T. vicina from near Iguana Cove in S.W. Albemarle. Of these 

 20 specimens 2 T. ephippium, 4 T. micropliyes, and 2 T. ricina were kejit by the 

 Leland Stanford Junior University, and the other 18 came to the Tring Museum, 

 where 14 of them will remain. 



The Johnson-Green ex]>cdition j)rocured 27 tortoises, of which 1 1 came to 

 Tring. Seven were T. cpliippinm from Duncan Island, 3 T. microphi/t's from 

 Tagus Cove, and \~ T. ricina from Iguana Cove and Villa Mil in S.W. 

 Albemarle. 



Though many of these were fine and large individuals, it remained for Mr. Beck 

 to enrich our knowledge of these interesting animals to a most unexjiccted extent. 

 Although he collected altogether only 14 tortoises (of which all but 5 T. epiiippiuin 

 were sent to Tring), they represented 4 different species, of which 2 were ajiparentiv 

 undescribed I 



Mr. Beck obtained the following specimens : 7 Testudo ephippiinn from 

 Duncan Island, 2 T. uhinqiloni from Abingdon Island, 3 T. micropln/cs from 

 Tagus Cove in Central Albemarle, 1 T. bfchi sp. nov. * from Cape Berkeley in 

 N.N.^V. Albemarle, and 1 Ti'stmlo sp. nov. from Indefatigable Island. I have 

 not yet ventured to describe the latter, for two reasons. First, Mr. Beck has gone 

 again to the Galapagos Archipelago, and I have specially asked him to try and 

 obtain adult specimens, as the one sent is a yonng animal, barely one-third grown. 

 Secondly, Captain Porter in 1812-14 described the tortoise of Indefatigable Island 

 as being the largest of all, many being 5^ ft. in length and some still larger. Now, 

 of the 8 species described from the Gal<ij)agos Islands, we know that the round 

 species grew to a much larger size than the saddle-shaped ones, and therefore 

 I am ratlier doubtful as to whether this sj)ecimen— which is undoubtedly saddle- 



* NdViTATKS ZooLoaiCAE VI (18»9). pp. K3-2iir]. t Nov. ZOUL. (IHdl). p. HTL'. 



