466 GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. Oct. 1S35. 



different parts of the world. If this tortoise does not 

 originally come from these islands, it is a remarkable 

 anomaly ; inasmuch as nearly all the other land inhabitants 

 seem to have had their birthplace here. 



Of lizards there are four or five species ; two probably 

 belong to the South American genus Leiocephalus, and two 

 to Amblyrhyncus. This remarkable genus was charac- 

 terized by Mr. Bell,* from a stuffed specimen sent from 

 Mexico, but which I conceive there can be little doubt 

 originally came through some whaling ship from these 

 islands. The two species agree pretty closely in general 

 appearance ; but one is aquatic and the other terrestrial in 

 its habits. Mr. Bell thus concludes his description of Amh. 

 cristatus: "On a comparison of this animal with the true 

 Iguanas, the most striking and important discrepancy is in 

 the form of the head. Instead of the long, pointed, narrow 

 muzzle of those species, we have here a short, obtusely 

 truncated head, not so long as it is broad, the mouth con- 

 sequently'- only capable of being opened to a very short 

 space. These circumstances, with the shortness and equality 

 of the toes, and the strength and curvature of the claws, 

 evidently indicate some striking peculiarity in its food and 

 general habits, on which, however, in the absence of all 

 certain information, I shall abstain from offering any con- 

 jecture." The following account of these two lizards, will, 

 I think, show with what judgment Mr. Bell foresaw a 

 variation in habit, accompanying change in structure. 



First for the aquatic kind {Amb. cristatus). This lizard is 

 extremely common on all the islands throughout the Archi- 

 pelago. It lives exclusively on the rocky sea-beaches, and 

 is never found, at least I never saw one, even ten yards 

 inshore. It is a hideous-looking creature, of a dirty black 

 colour, stupid and sluggish in its movements. The usual 

 length of a full-grown one is about a yard, but there are 

 some even four feet long : I have seen a large one which 



* Zoological Journal, July, 1833. 



