Vol. II, Pt. I] VAN DENBURGH— GALAPAGOS TORTOISES 245 



sible to say to what race it belongs. Dr. Albert Giinther, who 

 examined the specimen with me, is even more emphatic on 

 this point than I am." The exact locality of origin being 

 unknown, I think it impossible ever to decide which species it 

 represents, and therefore follow Giinther, Baur and Rothschild 

 in ignoring the name Testudo nigra. 



2. Testudo calif orniana Quoy & Gaimard. 1824 



This name, also proposed by Quoy and Gaimard in 1824, 

 evidently was based upon the specimen which they described 

 as Testudo nigra. It is therefore a substitute name. 



3. Testudo elephantopus Harlan. 1827 



This name was first used by Dr. Richard Harlan in a paper 

 published in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 

 Philadelphia, in 1827, and afterward reprinted in Harlan's 

 Medical and Physical Researches (1835). The description 

 was based upon a living specimen in the possession of Mr. 

 Whitton Evans. Beyond the mere fact that it was from th^ 

 Galapagos Islands, Dr. Harlan said nothing of the origin of 

 this tortoise. 



In 1874, Dr. Giinther, recognizing the fact that Harlan's 

 specimen belonged to one of the broad races, associated with 

 the name Testudo elephantopus certain specimens of indefinite 

 origin. The carapace which he figured is depressed, with some- 

 what elevated front, width over curve greater than length over 

 curve, height to marginals low, and pectoral plates well 

 developed. 



In 1889, after having examined a specimen which he thought 

 was the one described by Harlan, Dr. George Baur^ stated his 

 conclusion that the specimens which Dr. Giinther had referred 

 to Testudo elephantopus did not belong to the species repre- 

 sented by Harlan's type. It is probable that the specimen Baur 

 examined is a South Albemarle tortoise of the vicina type, for 

 Baur states that "a number of specimens collected by the 'Alba- 

 tross' agree exactly with" this specimen "and the T. vicina of 

 Giinther." 



2Am. Naturalist, Dec. 1889, p. 1043. 



