1052 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



AMAZON TURTLE (PodO( nemis expansa) 



INTERESTING AMAZON TURTLES 



A FEW months ago the Aquarium received 

 several specimens of the Mata-mata 

 or Bearded Turtle (Chelys fimbriata), 

 and the "Arrau" (Podocnemis expansa), in- 

 habiting' the rivers of Brazil. 



There is no rougher-shelled turtle than the 

 Mata-mata. The plates forming the top 

 shell are exceedingly rough and ridged. As 

 a whole the carapace is suggestive of a small 

 relief map of a rugged and mountainous 

 country with three main ranges, a portion of 

 each plate forming a little rugged peak. The 

 entire upper surface of the animal, including 

 head and legs, is brownish, looking as though 

 it had taken its tone from the mud of the 

 river bottom. The lower shell is much 

 lighter and the under surfaces of the legs 

 are yellowish, the lower part of the neck 

 being pinkish with four faint black lines 

 extending from the head to the body. The 

 neck is very broad and heavy, and is folded 

 back sideways, filling the entire space between 

 the two shells in front of the legs, while the 

 head is short and greatly flattened. The 

 very small eyes are placed unusually far 

 forward, and the small nostrils are at the end 

 of a long and soft tubular snout. The head 

 and neck are longer than the top shell. 



There are curious semi-lunar scales on the 

 outer portions of the legs. The jaws are 

 decidedly light, but there is a good-sized 

 mouth behind them. Its name, fimbriata, is 

 derived from the numerous fleshy wattles of 

 the head and neck. It is apparently a slug- 

 gish and inoffensive animal, probably de- 

 pending upon the motion of its fimbria; to 

 attract its prey. The Mata-mata has no 

 near turtle relatives and occupies a genus 

 and species by itself. The largest specimen 



has a top shell 15 inches long, but the species 

 is said to reach a total length of three feet. 



The other Amazon turtle (Podocnemis 

 expansa) reaches a still larger size, its top 

 shell being sometimes three feet long. The 

 largest Aquarium specimen has a top shell 

 twenty-three inches long. 



This turtle is an important article of food 

 on the Amazon. The natives catch it in 

 great numbers and have small ponds in which 

 they are held for food during the wet months 

 when they are not readily obtainable. 



Its eggs, used largely for making oil, are 

 collected literally by the million and are 

 obtained by digging in the sand banks where 

 the turtles go to deposit them at night. The 

 turtles are taken chiefly with the net and 

 by shooting with bow and arrow. Like the 

 Mata-mata, the great turtle has a neck which 

 folds back sideways. 



All the Amazon turtles were obtained 

 through the courtesy of the Booth Steamship 

 Company, whose vessels, sailing from New 

 York, ascend the Amazon to Iquitos in Peru. 



As far as known these two species of turtles 

 have not hitherto been exhibited alive in 

 this country, except in the case of the Mata- 

 mata at the New York Zoological Park. 



European Specimens. — Dr. Cecil French of 

 Washington recently took to Europe a num- 

 ber of fishes, reptiles and invertebrates from 

 the Aquarium to be exchanged for such exotic 

 species as may be available. The Aquarium 

 is desirous of obtaining lung fishes, walking 

 fishes and foreign aquatic reptiles and batra- 

 chians. 



AMAZON TURTLE (Podocnemis expansa) 

 Lower surface 



