50 GUIDE TO EEPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS. 



Seychelles. From Madagascar they disappeared at an earlier date ; 

 earlier still Giant Tortoises inhabited most of the continents. 

 Formerly the Tortoises swarmed on the above-named islands in 

 the Indian Ocean ; but they were carried off by the ship-load for 

 food, and some of the species are only known by specimens which 

 had been transported from their native homes. These Tortoises are 

 vegetable-feeders, and in the Galapagos subsist chiefly upon succu- 

 lent cactuses, leaves, and berries. At certain times of the year they 

 collect at particular pools and springs, to which they travel long 

 distances, forming regular, well-trodden paths. They ascend the 

 volcanic cones to a height of 4000 feet. These Tortoises live to a 

 great age. For instance Marion's Tortoise (Testudo sumeirei), living 

 in 1902 at Port Louis, Mauritius, was brought to that island in 1766 

 from the Seychelles, of which it is a native ; at the time of transport 

 it was probably a century old. The North Aldabra Tortoise 

 {T. gigantea, 148) survives only in the Seychelles, but the South 

 Aldabra species (T. daudini, 152) is still found in its native island. 

 Specimens of the former weigh between 350 lbs. and 400 lbs. 

 In some of the species, as in T. ephippium (149) and T. abingdoni 

 (153, fig- 51) of the Galapagos, and the extinct T. vosmceri of 

 Rodriguez, the bony shell is extremely thin, being reduced to 

 detached plates in the two former. 



The largest specimen exhibited is that of the North Aldabra 

 T. gigantea (148) ; the shell of an extinct species from Madagascar 

 {T. grandidieri, 154) is shown alongside. 



The two North American species of Box-Tortoise (Cistudo, 138- 

 140) take their name from the circumstance that the plastron (which 

 is attached to the carapace by ligament) is divided by a transverse 

 hinge into two movable lobes in such a manner that, when the head, 

 limbs, and tail are withdrawn, the shell can be completely closed. 

 The carapace is vaulted, the toes are almost completely free, and the 

 tail is short. 



Box-Tortoises are really Terrapins which have taken to a life on 

 land, and to this they are so thoroughly adapted, that they are 

 drowned if thrown into water. The shape of the head, the 

 vaulting of the shell (which is black and yellow or orange-brown 

 in colour), and the short front-toes are adaptations to terrestrial 

 life. On the other hand, the long hind-toes and broad feet, the 

 smooth covering of the head, the mainly carnivorous habit, and the 

 oval eggs proclaim descent from aquatic forms. The Carolina 

 species varies greatly in colour, the eyes being red in the males 



