OBSERVATIONS ON TESTITDO NIGRITA — WAITE. 95 



OBSERVATIONS ox TESTUDO NIGRITA, DUM. & BIBR. 



By Edgar R. Waite, F.L.S., Zoologist. 



(Plates XX., xxi., and xxii.) 



Until recently, living in the grounds of the Hospital at Glades- 

 ville, near Sydney, were two Gigantic Land Tortoises. In April, 

 1896, I availed myself of a long-standing invitation from Dr. 

 Eric Sinclair to inspect these tortoises with a view of determining 

 the species and to verify, if possible, the common belief that the 

 larger of the two originally came from the Galapagos Islands, 

 the home of one of the three races of gigantic land tortoises. 



I then understood that little or nothing was known of the 

 history of these huge Chelonians ; it was therefore, in the first 

 place, necessary to determine the species. An examination showed 

 that although the two individuals differed slightly, attributable 

 to their being of opposite sex, they were of the same species. The 

 absence of a nuchal plate, together with a divided gular, and the 

 presence of an enlarged scute on the inner side of the fore-limb, 

 at once indicated that they were from the Galapagos Islands. Of 

 the six species inhabiting the group, three only have the shields 

 of the carapace concentrically striated, as exhibited by our 

 specimens. The anterior declivity of the carapace, taken in con- 

 junction with the feature of the plastron, namely, being deeply 

 notched behind, at once enables us to determine the species as : — 



Testudo NIGRITA, Bum. (b Bib.* 

 I had hoped to fully describe the species, and so close a gap in 

 our knowledge of the several forms ; pressure of work has hitherto 

 prevented my doing so, and, notwithstanding the facilities we 

 possess in the way of material, I cannot look forward to sufficient 

 leisure at any near date. The male is now in London, but is 

 still, I believe, alive, so that its osteological characters are not 

 ascertainable. The female died in August, 1896, and then 

 passed into the possession of the Museum. Being desirous of 

 preserving it in a life-like condition, and at the same time not 

 wishing to sacrifice such a valuable skeleton, a novel experiment 

 was tried and proved to be most successful. Casts were taken of 

 the carapace, plastron, and head ; the skin was next carefully 

 removed, and so worked up in conjunction with the casts that no 

 one could now detect the deception, and the production occupies a 



Dumeril et Bibron — Erpet. Gener., ii., 1835, p. 80. 



