$4 REPTILES 



opportunity, they would at once have seized and tried to devour 

 the snake. The South American monkeys showed fear in ir- 

 regular and sometimes slightly marked form. Spider-monkeys 

 were quite as excited and alarmed as any Old World monkey. 

 Some of the larger Cebidce did not retreat, but uncovered their 

 canines, and looked as if they were ready to show fight. The 

 Old World monkeys recognised the snakes instantly and bolted 

 panic-stricken, chattering loudly and retreating to their boxes 

 or as high up as possible in the larger cages." 



The writers conclude that in all probability " human beings 

 have inherited this specific fear of snakes from their anthropoid 

 ancestors, and that our inclination to attribute a similar fear of 

 snakes to other animals is due not merely to erroneous observa- 

 tion but to an ' anthropoidomorphic ' prepossession ". 



A remarkable provision for the purpose of attracting prey 

 within reach occurs in the mata-mata terrapin {CJiely: fimbriata) 

 of Brazil and the Guianas. In this reptile the head and neck 

 are fringed with warty appendages, floating in the water like 

 some vegetable growth, whilst the rough, bossed carapace re- 

 sembles a stone, — an appearance which evidently is of as great 

 use to this creature in escaping the observation of its enemies 

 as in alluring to it unsuspicious animals on which it feeds. It 

 would seem that in this chelonian we have a double adaptation ; 

 — one for attracting prey, and the other to harmonise with the 

 surroundings. 



As mentioned in the first chapter, no reptile undergoes a 

 metamorphosis, or transformation, comparable to that of am- 

 phibians, so that the life-history of all the members of the group 

 is comparatively simple, consisting in the main of a gradual 

 and regular increase in size from birth to maturity. It is true, 

 that the young of some reptiles are more brightly coloured than 

 their parents, while the newly-born offspring of crocodiles are 

 furnished with an "egg-tooth". These, however, are but 

 trifling points of difference ; and, in many cases at any rate, no 

 one would have much difficulty in declaring the specific 

 identity of a young reptile with its parent. A young gharial, 

 for example, of half a dozen inches in length, is a miniature of 

 its parents, with the exception that if it be a male, it lacks the 

 protuberance at the extremity of the muzzle characteristic of 

 adult males. 



