Amphibians and Reptiles of Santa Marta 29 



very hardy, wade-ranging forms of the lowlands. However, above 4,000- 

 feet there are not more than about a dozen species of Trochilidae, a very 

 poor showing as compared with either range of the Andes. Monkeys are 

 rarely seen above 2,000 feet, and very uncommonly above the costal plain. 

 In Venezuela I have taken Mycetes up to 7,000 feet, where it was appar- 

 ently not rare, according to local report. 



Among the mammals, the wild pigs and agoutis are the most abundant, 

 ranging from sea-level to at least 8,000 feet. Tapirs are fairly common 

 above 3,000 feet. Deer are nowhere common, except the large species found 

 in the delta region of the Magdalena, which in reality hardly belongs to the 

 region under discussion. Rodents and squirrels seem to be abundant nearly 

 everywhere up to at least 6.000 feet, as well as marsupials and foxes ; the 

 latter, however, are not, as a rule, seen above 2.500 feet, although I saw a 

 pair at Vista Nieve at 5,000 feet. 



A description of the amphibian-reptile fauna is given by Dr. Ruthven. 



Conclusion: The great inaccessibility, solitude and isolation of the 

 Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta have been the chief causes of the fragmen- 

 tary nature of the biological w^ork done there, and until better mean;* 

 of travel and communication have been opened up there are numerous large 

 areas which will remain unexplored and unknown. A few regions, such as 

 Mount San Lorenzo and the Horqueta, which are easy of access, have been 

 intensively worked along several lines, and certain accessible portions of 

 the lowlands may easily be studied, especially the banana district. How- 

 ever, the bulk of the region, both lowlands and highlands, is accessible for 

 intensive biological study only by means of well-equipped expeditions with 

 considerable time and money at their disposal. Such expeditions could, 

 however, be easily organized and carried out by the combined efforts of 

 several large and well-equipped scientific institutions, each one furnishing 

 one or two experts in certain branches of biology, and bearing its corre- 

 sponding quota of the expenses. Such expeditions, under capable leader- 

 ship, and composed of men accustomed to work in the tropics or other wild 

 and uninhabited regions, could obtain important results, and there would 

 be no duplication of field work, with consequent loss of time and money. 

 There is probably no other portion of the American tropics which today 

 offers such a promising field for intensive biological study as the Sierra 

 Nevada de Santa Marta. The work already done has been entirely too 

 fragmentary and widely separated to lead to many definite general conclu- 

 sions, especially concerning such broad problems as faunal origin and rela- 

 tions. Too much mere reconnaissance and too little intensive study of life 

 history and distribution have been done. In the present sketch (for with 

 our present knowledge it can be classed as nothing more than a sketch) 

 there has been little attempt to arrive at many definite conclusions. An 

 attempt has been made to set down the facts as known to the author, with 

 the hope that they may stimulate further work in this most interesting field 

 and serve as a basis for intensive study. 



