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XII. On the Semains of some Gigantic Land-Tortoises, and of an extinct Lizard, 

 recently discovered in Mauritius. By Hans Gadow, Ph.D., M.A., F.R.S., 

 Lecturer on Advanced Morphology of Vertelrata, and Strickland Curator, 

 University of Cambridge. 



Keceived November 29th, 1892, read December 20th, 1892. 



[Plates XLII.-XLIV.] 



IHE collection of bones of birds from the Mare aux Songes, in Mauritius (described 

 in Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. xiii. (1893) p. 281), was accompanied by an equally interesting 

 collection of reptilian remains from the same locality. Mr. Theodore Sauzier, as President 

 of the Commission des Souvenirs Historiques, made the stipulation that a typical 

 selection of these bones should be given to the University Museum of Zoology, pro- 

 vided the whole of the material was worked out in Cambridge. This task has been 

 entrusted to me, and I now take the opportunity of thanking Mr. Sauzier for his 

 generous liberality. 



Considering that a great portion of the collection has to be returned to Mauritius, it 

 is necessaiy to figure most of the important specimens. 



Dr. Giinther's Monograph, ' The Gigantic Land-Tortoises, living and extinct,' 

 London, 1877, naturally forms the basis of the following descriptions. By having dis- 

 tinguished several species, notably Testudo triserrata and T. inepta, when studying 

 previous collections from the Mare aux Songes, and by having, moreover, assigned 

 names to the numerous disconnected skulls, carapaces, plastra, pelves, and shoulder- 

 girdles, he has established a case of precedence which naturally has to be acknowledged 

 as potentially correct, until at some future time complete specimens, with all their 

 bones associated, shall be found, and either corroborate or correct his identifi- 

 cations. 



I follow his plan of distinguishing by different names at least some of the most obviously 

 differing carapaces and plastra, referring, however, to many of the other bones by 

 letters and numbers only. The same letters and numbers, with references to this 

 paper, having been attached to all the specimens, recognition has been secured. 



There remains the question of the specific value of these names. It is immaterial to 

 the descriptive purpose of this paper, whether they be considered as indicating species, 

 subspecies, varieties, or races. So long as we knew that Mauritius was inhabited 

 at the utmost by three spec'es, namely T. triserrata and T. inepta — T. indica s. 

 perraidti being only supposed to have come from Mauritius, and since the name 

 T. leptocnemis was suggested only on account of the femur, pelvis, and scapula — this 



VOL. XIII. — PAET VIII. No. 2. — April, 1894. 2 z 



