Vol. I] VAN DENBURGH-GIGANTIC LAND TORTOISES 3 



toises met with far greater success than I had dared anticipate. 

 All of the races which had been supposed extinct were found 

 still living, with the exception of that of Charles Island. Tor- 

 toises were also found living on two islands which they had 

 not previously been known to inhabit. On Barrington Island, 

 also not hitherto known to have supported tortoises, por- 

 tions of the remains of fourteen individuals were secured. It 

 is probable that the tortoise of this island, like that of Charles, 

 is really extinct. A single tortoise was secured on Cowley 

 Mountain, Albemarle Island, and others were found living 

 in all of the other localities from which these huge reptiles 

 have ever been recorded. In all over three hundred tortoises 

 are represented in the collection, some forty of them, however, 

 only by more or less fragmentary remains. 



A complete report upon this collection can only be issued 

 after an immense amount of work. Meanwhile, it seems 

 best to publish this brief statement and the following pre- 

 liminary descriptions of the tortoises of Hood, James, Chat- 

 ham, and Narborough Islands, which seem never to have been 

 described. 



Testudo hoodensis new species. 



Type. — Adult (?) female (?) now living in Golden Gate Park, San 

 Francisco. California Academy of Sciences No. 8121. Hood Island, 

 Galapagos Archipelago. Joseph R. Slevin and E. S. King. Caught June 

 27, 1906. 



Diagnosis. — No nuchal; gulars paired; front of carapace high, little 

 lower than middle, height at nuchal notch more than 41% (45%) of 

 straight length; difference between percentages of heights at third 

 vertebral and at nuchal notch less than 9 (5) ; carapace saddle-shaped, 

 narrow anteriorly, width at margin of junction of second and third 

 marginals not more than 54% (45%); first marginals not greatly 

 enlarged, not much everted, their ventral surfaces not vertical, their 

 most prominent points separated by less than 30% (20%); length 

 over curve not more than 123% (122%), greater than width over 

 curve; vertical distance from lower surface of plastron to lower edge 

 of lateral marginals great, 12%; general size rather small, straight 

 length (June, 1907) 22.2 inches; plastron long, median length 89%; 

 plates striated, central portions of vertebrals and costals much 

 elevated; pectoral plates forming a suture on median line; lower jaw 

 and throat marked with yellow. 



