96 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



in;iequilaterali, antice et postice rotundata ; valvulis subtenuibns ; natibus 

 ])rominulis ; epiilerniide transverse striata, tenebroso-viridi, redundater radi- 

 ata ; margarita c;Bruleo-alba et valde iridescente. 



Hib. — Lake Nicaragua, Cent. Amer. Mr. W. M. Gabb. 



Anodonta Granadensis. — Testa la?vi, elliptica, subinflata, inpeqiiivalva, ina- 

 ([uilaterali, postice obtuse angulata, antice rotunda ; valvulis subtenuibus ; 

 natibus prominulis ; epidermide vel lutea vel viridi-radiata ; margarita cseru- 

 leo-alba et valde iridescente. 



Ilab. — Lake Nicaragua, Cent. Amer. Col. E. Jcwctt. 



An Examination of the REPTILIA and BATRACHIA obtained by the Orton 

 Expedition to Equador and the Upper Amazon, with notes on other Species. 



BY E. D. COPE. 



The expedition for purposes of scientitic exploi'ation, to which the present 

 paper relates, was undertaken during the autumn and winter of 1867 — 8, 

 under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution. Prof. James Orton, of 

 Williams College, Massachusetts, directed the expedition, which was composed 

 mainly of students of the same institution. This enterprise, particularly 

 worthy of a popular institution of learning of the grade and position which 

 an American College ought to occupy, has been attended with success in many 

 departments of natural and physical sciences. In the present department, 

 valuable in furnishing a reliable key to the history of the mode of creation 

 and distribution of animal life, a considerable amount of material has been 

 collected, which is reviewed summarily in the following pages. 



The party divided, a portion ascending the Orinoco River to meet the other 

 portion in Eastern Equador. The course of the latter was as follows, as I am 

 informed hy Prof. Orton : 



They first touched the continent at Payta,Peru, and afterwards at Guayaquil ; 

 then proceeded inland over the Andes to Quito — collecting in the valley about 

 three months ; thence via Pafallacta (on the east slope of the eastern Cordillera) 

 and Archiaona (the largest town in the Oriental part of Equador,) to Napo on 

 the River Napo ; thence by canoe down the Napo to the Maranon and Amazons. 



They collected Reptiles chiefly from (luayaquil, PaRatanga (on the west 

 slope of the western Cordillera south of Chimborazo) ; Ambato (in Valley of 

 Quito); Avestern slope of the volcano Antisana, 13000 ft. above sea (a small 

 black frog:) Archiaona — in the depths of the Napo forest (lizards chiefly;) 

 Santa Rosa on the Napo (lizards chiefly ;) Pebas, Peru, on the Maranon — 2200 

 miles from the Atlantic (snakes chiefly,) and Tabatinga on the Brazilian 

 frontier, (snakes chiefly'.) 



CROCODILIA. 



Crocodilus AMERICANOS Liuu. C. ciculus Cuv. 

 From Guayaquil. 



TESTUDINATA. 



Testudo elephantopcs. Harlan. 



From Guayaquil, identical with sp. from the Gallapagos Islands. This 

 species presents the broad posterior vertebral shield of the American T. tabu- 

 la t a and p o 1 y p h e m u s. 



Chelydra serpentina Linn. Schweigger. 



One sp. from Guayaquil, identical with nearctic specimens. This species 

 furnishes a case of distribution unparalleled among reptiles, ranging as it does 

 from the cold regions of Canada to the torrid region of Equador. Peters has 

 already noticed Guayaquil as its most southern habitat, via. Mouatsber., Berlin 

 Ac. 1862, p. 627. 



[March, 



