46 HELLER 



DISTRIBUTION OF REPTILES IN THE GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. 



x Collected or recorded by previous collectors. 

 s Seen. 



Excluding Chelone mydas, which is a widely spread marine 

 species, the Galapagos reptile fauna consists of twenty-six 

 species and subspecies ; of these twenty-five are peculiar and 

 are represented on the adjacent coast of South America by 

 closely allied species. 



All species of Testudo in the Galapagos are peculiar, and are 

 most closely related to those found in the Mascarenes, of the 

 Indian Ocean, from which they are separated by only slight 

 structural characters. Any land connection between these re- 

 mote island groups in recent geologic times through a connec- 

 tion of the continents to which they are nearest, forming a con- 



