40 REPTILES OF THE WORLD 



prehension as to how actual flesh and muscle could coat 

 and move such ponderous bones. Through a strange 

 and apparently incidental provision of Nature, the giant 

 tortoises, the crocodilians and one lizard-like creature — 

 the Tuatera — have survived unchanged through bewil- 

 dering ages of time; other reptiles of the present show 

 every phase of the obliterating sway of degeneracy. 



Compare the Giant Tortoise that has trod unchanged 

 out of the past, with a modern tortoise of average size. 

 What a difference in proportions is seen! It is fortu- 

 nate for mankind that no such comparisons are possible 

 among the lizards. Imagine an iguana magnified to 

 such proportions ! We would have a creature that could 

 rush upon a man, tear and devour him within a moment. 

 Diminutive indeed are the present reptiles as compared 

 with their colossal ancestors. To one who has observed 

 numerous, ordinary tortoises, then for the first time sees 

 a giant tortoise, the sight is awe-inspiring and causes 

 one to feel as if looking upon — though it be a substantial 

 one — a ghost of the past. 



The Galapagos Islands, thirteen in number, form a 

 tiny archipelago of volcanic origin about five hundred 

 miles west of the South American coast, and scorching 

 under a tropical sun. Six species of Giant Tortoises are 

 found here. Nowhere else in the New World do they 

 occur. The Aldabra Islands in the Indian Ocean form 

 the habitat of four others; and four species inhabit the 

 Mauritius-Rodriguez Group of islands. All of the spe- 

 cies have been ruthlessly slaughtered and the drain upon 

 the remainder by scientific expeditions has so reduced the 

 entire group that these interesting creatures are on 

 the verge of practical extinction in a wild state. Sev- 

 eral species entirely disappeared during the nineteenth 

 century. In Europe, Asia and Africa numerous fossil 



