386 REPTIUA^ORDER IT.—CHELOmA. 



the shell, the limbs are never converted into paddles, and the shell itself is 

 n ivcr heart-shaped. Both the upper and lower halves of the shell arc well 

 developed ; and they may be connected together at the sides either by flat- 

 tened surfaces, or they may give off minute interlocking processes, so as to 

 be united by what are termed sutures. In no instance is there an intergular 

 shield on the front of the plastron. Certain features connected with the 

 bones of the carapace and internal skeleton by which this family is distin- 

 guished from those that follow may be best mentioned under the heading of 

 the latter. Geographically the Testudinidce — like the typical genus Testudo 

 — have a range equivalent to that of the sub-order, of which they form by 

 far the largest family. As regards diet, they are as diverse as in other habits, 

 some feeding exclusively on vegetable substances, while others are carnivor- 

 ous. It is not an uncommon belief that the Greek tortoise — which is mainly 

 a vegetarian — will live upon black beetles; and I have known an instance 

 where one of these reptiles was installed in a kitchen — vice a hedgehog 

 deceased — to prey upon these troublesome insects, with results sadly to the 

 disappointment of the purchase!". 



The typical representatives of the family are the land-tortoises of the genus 

 Testiido, most of which, like tlie common Grecian species, are comparatively 

 small creatures, although some of those from the Mascarene and Galapagos 

 Islands have a shell measuring considerably over a yard in length, and are cap- 

 able of trotting off gaily with a load of three full-grown men on their capacious 

 backs. In a work like the present the reader must not expect to find all the 

 characters by which the tortoises of this genus are distinguished from their 

 kin. In all cases the stout club-like limbs are adapted for walking on land, 

 and are covered with horny scales or tubercles, while the unwebbed toes 

 terminate in strong claw-like nails. The tail is always short. In a shell 

 from which the superficial shields have been stripped, it will be seen that the 

 neural bones are wide and short, with a quadrangular one generally alternat- 

 ing with an octagonal, although sometimes most are hexagonal. Of the 

 costal bones, one is wide above and narrow below, and the next the reverse of 

 this. As already said, these tortoises have a distribution practically co- 

 extensive with that of the family to which they belong ; and all are her- 

 bivorous. In South and South-Eastern Europe the genus is represented by 

 the well-known Grecian tortoise (T. grceca), and also by the nearly-allied 

 margined tortoise (T. marginata), which appears to be confined to Greece, 



and is distinguished by tlie absence of 

 an enlarged tubercle on the thigh. Cer- 

 tain Indian and South African species, 

 such as T. elegans and T. geotnetrica, arc 

 distinguished by the extreme convexity 

 of the shell, which is beautifully painted 

 either with narrow yellow lines radiatins; 

 onadarkground fi-omthecentreof eachot 

 the shields, or with similar black lines on 

 a light ground. Giant tortoises formerly 

 existed in Aldabra Island, to the north- 

 -p'^'^"''>''T'-'KTciss west of Madagascar; the Mascarenes 



Uestudo gnvca). (Reunion, Rodriquez, and Mauritius); 



and the Galapagos group, off the Pacific coast of South America. From the 

 second' group they have, however, been exterminated, and have been greatly 

 reduced in numbers in the others, where they formerly lived in thousands. 



Ji 



