296 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



SPECIMENS 



THE COLLECTION OF AFRICAN 

 REPTILES. 



While the Reptile House has contained a good 

 representative collection of the four orders of 

 reptiles during the past six 3'ears, it is only recently 

 that a characteristic series of African reptiles has 

 been exhibited. It is next to impossible to procure 

 the smaller and more interesting of the African 

 lizards and snakes from the dealers, as the extensive 

 journey in\-ariably proves fatal. About the only 

 African reptiles to be bought nowadays are speci- 

 mens of the Rock Python, {Python scbrc), imported 

 by all the larger dealers for the shows. This species 

 is always on exhibition in the Reptile House. Thus, 

 under the conditions described, the building was 

 utterly lacking in specimens from the Dark Con- 

 tinent, until the New York Zoological Society's 

 representative. Dr. Cecil French, journeyed into 

 Abyssinia and secured for the Society a fine lot of 

 tortoises, lizards and snakes. These filled a series 

 of cages and happily are quite representative, 

 among them being the typical stout-bodied vipers, 

 the slender cobra, geckos with adhesive digits, 

 desert lizards that dig with a shovel-like snout, 

 and the swift-running species of arid places, while 

 the tortoises were valuable additions to the colony 

 occupying the new Tortoise Yards and Corrals. 



Among the African tortoises we tind the largest 

 species of Testudo outside the grou]) of giant 



chelonians inhabiting the Galapagos and the 

 Aldabra Islands. Many of the African reptiles 

 are strikingly marked. Some are grotesque in the 

 high, dome-like development of the shell or the 

 rough shields, which rise in a series of concentric, 

 step-like processes. 



The most remarkable of our African chelonians 

 is the Hinge-Backed Tortoise, {Cinixys erosa), a 

 species of rather small size. Here we find in the 

 hinged formation of the shell, a development similar 

 to the American Box Tortoises, (Cisliiilo), with the 

 curious difference that Nature's handiwork is ex- 

 actly reversed. Instead of the plastron being hinged, 

 as is the case with Cistiido, the African reptile has 

 the posterior half of the upper shell connected by a 

 cartilaginous hinge. Beneath the bony covering 

 are muscles of wonderful power. In time of danger 

 this attachment is pulled downward tightly against 

 the plastron and held with such strength that a 

 strong man's unaided hands cannot budge it. 

 Compared with other African tortoises the present 

 species is altogether unique. The shell is rather 

 flattened, while the marginal shields present a 

 decidedly serrated border and flare sharply upward. 

 Our specimens are very timid and seldom show 

 more than the snout and eyes when in the presence 

 of an observer. If handled they close down the 

 hinged part of the carapace, draw in the head, then 

 fold the bony-plated forearms closely together. 

 Nor do they recover from the fright for several 



