244 



CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. 



SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT 

 1. Nomenclature 



Eighteen names have been proposed for Galapagos tortoises, 

 as follows : 



DATE NAME AUTHORITY LOCALITY 



1. 1824 — Testudo nigra Quoy & Gaimard "California" 



2. 1824 — Testudo calif orniana Quoy & Gaimard 



3. 1827 — Testudo elephantopus Harlan Galapagos 



4. 1835 — Testudo nigrita Dumeril & Bibron No locality 



5. 1855 — Testudo planiceps Gray No locality 



6. 1875 — Testudo ephippium Giinther No locality 



7. 1875 — Testudo microphyes Giinther No locality 



8. 1875 — Testudo vicina Giinther No locality 



9. 1877 — Testudo abingdonii Giinther Abingdon 



10. 1889 — Testudo galapagoensis Baur Charles 



11. 1889 — Testudo giintheri Baur No locality 



12. 1901— Testudo becki Rothschild North Albemarle 



13. 1902— Testudo wallacei Rothschild No locality 



14. 1904 — Testudo porteri Rothschild Indefatigable 



15. 1907 — Testudo hoodensis Van Denburgh Hood 



16. 1907 — Testudo darwini Van Denburgh James 



17. 1907 — Testudo chathamensis Van Denburgh Chatham 



18. 1907 — Testudo phantasticus Van Denburgh Narborough 



Eight of these names are based upon specimens whose ori- 

 gin is definitely known. There can be no question as to the 

 races to which these names apply. The other ten, however, 

 were proposed, often with vague descriptions from examples 

 which leave much to be desired in respect both to history and 

 to condition. It will be necessary to consider each of these 

 names in turn to determine, if possible, its proper use. 



1. Testudo nigra Quoy & Gaimard. 1824 



This name was applied by Quoy and Gaimard, in 1824, to 

 a very young tortoise presented to M. de Freycinet by Captain 

 Meek, of the "Boston Eagle," while the "Uranie" and "Phy- 

 sicien" were in the Sandwich Islands, and said to have come 

 from California. Owing to the small size of this tortoise the 

 differential characters are not developed. Rothschild, who re- 

 cently examined the type in the Paris Museum, writes^ that 

 it "is a young tortoise with a carapace barely 10^ inches 

 long, and so indifferently preserved that it is absolutely impos- 



iNovitates ZooL, IX, 1902, p. 618. 



