42 THE STORY OF REPTILE LIFE. 



bring it to the ground should the object aimed j 

 at be missed. The strength of the jaw is sur- j 

 prising. One of these creatures has been known 

 to bite a piece clean out of an inch plank. 



The cunning of the disguise of the Snapper 

 is equalled only by one other pond-tortoise the 

 " Mata-mata " (Chelys fimbriata). The back of 

 the shell in this animal, as in the Snapper, 

 bears a close resemblance to an old sunken log, 

 but the guise has been acquired by somewhat 

 different means, large conical bosses, divided 

 from one another by deep valleys, giving the 

 appearance of rough bark, and thus taking the 

 place of the algae on the shell of the Snapper. 



Like the Snapper, the Mata-mata has assumed 

 a disguise in order to increase the effectiveness 

 of a lure by which unwary fishes and other prey 

 may be brought within reach of the mouth. The 

 lure in the present case takes the form, not of 

 brightly-coloured filaments from the tongue, but 

 of ragged-looking flaps of skin projecting from 

 the head and neck. The ear-flaps and the flaps 

 of skin on the throat are kept in constant motion, 

 and thereby attract the attention of passing fishes 

 and other curious creatures which, drawing closer 

 and closer, are at length brought near enough to 

 the mouth to be suddenly engulfed by the inrush 

 of water down the throat of the artfully concealed 

 monster. 



The Mata-mata is a native of the rivers of 

 Guiana and Northern Brazil, and is perhaps the 

 most bizarre-looking of all its tribe. It is a really 

 big tortoise, attaining a length of more than three 

 feet when fully adult. 



