256 



CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Peoc. 4th Sek. 



Charles Island specimen Testudo galapagoensis. Were it not 

 for the fact that Baur specifically refers to this particular speci- 

 men in the Museum of the Boston Society of Natural History, 

 this name might be regarded as a nomen nudum. It remained 

 for Dr. Giinther, in 1902/*^ to point out characters distin- 

 guishing Testudo galapagoensis from the other races known 

 to him. 



To me, the evidence that the type of Testudo galapagoensis 

 came originally from Charles Island, although circumstantial, 

 is convincing. Also, I believe that it represents a race dis- 

 tinct from any known from another locality. While Baur was 

 right in his conclusion that it differed from the specimen 

 which he thought was Harlan's type of T. elephantopus, he 

 was wrong in so regarding the latter specimen, which, it 

 seems, is merely a young Testudo vicina and not Harlan's 

 specimen at all. Therefore, it never has been shown that 

 Jackson's specimens, one of which became the type of Baur's 

 Testudo galapagoensis, were not the same as Harlan's T. ele- 

 phantopus. I have already^^ given my reasons for thinking 

 that Harlan's specimen represented the Charles Island race. 

 If I am right in this view, Harlan's Testudo elephantopus 

 and Baur's Testudo galapagoensis are synonyms. The former 

 is much the older term. 



10. Testudo guntheri Baur. 1889 



In his article on Gigantic Land Tortoises of the Galapagos 

 Islands,^^ published in 1889, Dr. George Baur proposed the 

 name Testudo guntheri for the species described by Dr. Giin- 

 ther as Testudo elephantopus Harlan. The specimen figured 

 by Dr. Giinther may be regarded as the type. This specimen, 

 as I have stated in discussing T. elephantopus, is of indefinite 

 origin. The carapace is depressed, with somewhat elevated 

 front ; width over curve greater than length over curve ; height 

 to marginals low ; and pectoral plates well-developed. In shape, 

 it resembles the Chatham Island tortoise, but differs in the 

 greater breadth over curve and in the development of the 

 pectoral plates. It, seemingly, is identical with the smooth, 



lONovitates Zool., ix, July, 1902, pp. 184-92, pis. xvi-xxi. 



I2p. 247 ante. 



i3Baur, Am. Naturalist, xxiii, Dec. 1889, p. 1044. 



