The coast southeast of the bay and the central part of the island and GardnerIsland were explored. The bay and the interior of the island near the hacienda Sehor Cobos were explored. These were reported on by Steindachner - who also received most of the reptiles taken off.
Galapagos Testudo (genus Elephantopus of Gray). — Nuchal
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During this operation they usually indulge in much grumbling and
The type localities of most of the Galapagoian species of Testudo are shrouded in more or less uncertainty. Within recent years authentic specimens have been collected on Albemarle, near Tagus and Iguana coves, Abingdon and Duncan islands consisting of four species, and the turtles have become extinct on all the other islands of the archipelago. Of the larger islands and those with conditions of vegetation suitable for the existence of TesUido, Narboro, Bindloe, Barrington, and Jervis never appear to have been inhabited.
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I £•! ^ III
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In one specimen seen the coloration varied from the customary
Our material consists of shells and skulls of four large males taken east of Tagus Cave. Occipital condyle small with a more or less defined notch anteriorly (in one specimen the notch is as deep as in T. nigrita).
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Our material consists of the shells and skulls of a pair of adults and
The skulls have the broad pterygoid ridges and broad, shallow depressions before the occipital condyles as in Giinther's figure of the type, from which characters there is no significant divergence. They have a light tinge of dark brick red over and the skin on the limbs, neck and head. The northern and northwestern slopes of the island were explored by us from sea level to the top of the highest peak without finding a trace of Testudo's present former existence.
What tortoises do not remain on the island are probably confined to the moist and greener southern slopes, where the albatross and petrel secured their specimens.
CHATHAM ISLAND
Special characters.—Dorsal tubercles small, inclined, in two to six continuous longitudinal series on back; the back crosses eight rows, becoming ten in front, the outer rows on each side disappearing before reaching the middle of the back. Dorsal tubercles small, two or three times the size of dorsal tubercles, rounded, set against each other and slightly rounded, in ten longitudinal series on sacral region; four rows cross the back and nape, the three outer rows on each side disappearing before reaching the middle of the back. Wide digital palettes, four times the width of the rest of the digit, almost two-thirds the diameter of the eye, trapezoid.
Snout rounded at the tip, the dorsal profile oblique; length slightly less than twice the diameter of the eye. Superior labial six in front of middle of pupil, twice as long as high; five inferior labials anterior to middle of pupil, as high as long, first largest and more than two-thirds size of mental.
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REPTILES ^Z MEASUREMENTS OF Phyllodactyltis gilbcrti
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Found only at the head of the deck under loose tuff blocks and in mangrove swamps near Turtle Point, where a few were secured under Avicetinia bark. The stomachs of these mangrove swamp specimens contained the remains of the large crickets, Liparoscelis^ which also live under the bark of the same trees.
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These differences apply in series of twenty-one specimens from Charles, Hood, and Gardner Islands.
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Dj Female without dark transverse bars above
Hey Light Below; scales in body girth 58 to 68;. females plain smooth olive above; length of head and body in males less than 100 mm grey-grey. Hey Plumbeous below; length of head and body in males usually 100 mm. or greater; scales in circumference. D^ Female with a dark transverse line above; body girth scales 66 to 73; head and body length in. male 91 to 100 mm .grayi barringtonensis.
DJ Tail and belly red; scales smaller, so up to 90 in circumference of the body; female dark spotted on throat and breast; size smaller, length of head and body, male 90. Bj Sides of neck scaly; no folds between the ear opening and the front oblique fold of the neck. Cj Scales large, 55 to 65 in body circumference; height of the dorsal crest in males in the neck^internasal width; plates on. top of head more divided and equal in size; male with two light longitudinal stripes on the sides; small, length of head and body in males 80 mm, females 60 mm bivittatus.
Cj Scales small, 68 to 75 in body girth; height of dorsal ridge in male on occiput i^^ internasal width; plates on top of head smaller and unequal; male bright spots above;. larger, length of head and body in the male 100 mm., in the female.
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The dark striped side of the head begins below the eye and extends from ear to nape. Thirty-seven adult males are in the collection, nine from the north shore of Indefatigable, twenty from South Seymour and eight from North Seymour Island. The color of the breast varies from red through orange to brown, the black spots in some specimens hide the basic color; in some others the breast is only sparsely spotted.
Several are marked on the sides by two dark longitudinal bands, the lower band extending from armpit to thigh, the upper from ear to upper thigh. The females are barely distinguishable in color from some specimens from James Island, while themes approach Albemarle specimens in size and color. The specimens from the Seymour Islands hardly show any variation from those taken on Indefatigable.
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RKI'TILES 73
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Female adult, Cat.No.3985, Stan.Univ.Mus., showing typical coloration is uniform dark olive-brown above, distinctly darker than in male; sides of head and body similar.
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Above olive brown, spotted with black except the head; tail more brownish with few dark spots; hind limbs and tail light blue-gray mottled; fore-limbs darkly spotted like back. In some the chest as well as the throat is black, in others it varies from red to orange, black spot. Sides of head and body from snout to tip of caudal red, darkest dorsally where the red protrudes upwards and crosses the dorsum, bright-stalked belly; ablack antehumeral spot.
Down from mandible to tip of tail, darker anteriorly on lower jaw, tail bright; breast and belly light, breast with dark spots.
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Olive brown above, mottled, except on head, with light yellowish; tail dark reddish, crest light brown; hind limbs reddish, distally light punctate; forelimbs than the sides of the body. Abdomen medially and hind limbs and tail dark yellow below; abdomen front and sides red. Sides of head and collar brown with black spots; sides of body reddish, light yellow spots; tail brick red on sides.
The collection contains eighteen males raised from Hood and Gardner Islands, those from Gardner having the brightest reddish areas. Entire head, throat, and breast brick red, becoming nape and top of head, fading to dull orange on front of belly; belly and tail and hind limbs low cream-yellow; forelimbs down about as long as the chest. Some specimens from Narboro are almost equal in size, but vary greatly in color and size of scales. somewhat approaching gray in colouration, but on the sides of the tail and unspotted underparts of the female appear to be distinct.
This species is generally distributed over Hood and Gardner, but as. on the other islands in the archipelago, they occur to a much greater extent near the coast. Above golden brown, darker on top of head and along base of dorsal crest; limbs above like back. Sides of head bryn^nish; sides of throat and body bright brick red; a slatyantehumeral spot with black center.
Food consists of insects, spiders, flowers, and seed capsules, the former predominating in the stomach examined.
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They were formerly abundant at Albemarle, James, Indefatigable, Seymour, and Narboro, but have now disappeared from all but Seymour and Narboro, where they are still fairly common. This species inhabits the brushy and forested parts of the islands from sea level to the rims of the highest craters. The grass, foliage, flowers and berries of various shrubs and cacti (Opuntiadhefrutat e Cere?is) are eaten with little or no preference.
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Our material consists of four adult specimens from Narboro and
Upper and lower lips, eyes and sides of the muzzle up to the height of the lemon's nostrils; head orange above with whitish dots and spots; neck, lower jaw and throat dirty whitish; dorsal upper surface of limbs and tail brick red; lower parts, except the rear part of the tail, chrome-plated; tail lighter brick red behind. Special characters.—Color above, clay yellow, whitish below; rostral plate broad, height more than twice length, bordered above with eight scales; muzzle less than twice as long as head from ear opening; the height of the soul is twice the width. Head widest between auricle and angle of jaw, one and one-third as long as wide.
Nostrils large, circular, perforating a single raised plate, nearer snout than eye; distance from snout to center of nostril equal length of rostral plate. Head covered above with keeled convex scales, those on occiput strongly conical; occipital plate not much enlarged; supraocular small.
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The coloration above is dark olive, uniform or with dark spots and dots on the nape or with a pair of light brownish longitudinal dorsal stripes covering the third and fourth row of scales. These begin three or four inches behind the head and extend to the tail, and the stripes in front are represented on the nape by a series of spots of the same color. Mus., taken on the Albemarle, near Cape Berkeley, had the following color in life: brown above, scales with minute dark spots; two longitudinal sets of black spots on the sides of the body; neck above lighter brownish yellow with a central black stripe and one set of large black spots;
A young specimen from this island has a color pattern quite different from all others.
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With ventral skins, larger than dorsals, coiled, those in gular pouch larger with smaller keels; smaller hips and lower surfaces of the limbs. Tail covered dorsally with keeled scales, larger than those posteriorly, median series enlarged; lower surface of tail covered with scales of similar size to those on upper surface; no enlarged post-anal scales.
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Females with a trace of the gular-sac of the male; no enlarged
The coloration is similar to that of the male, but slightly duller, without the orange color of the gular sac. It occurs largely on Clipperton Rock, which forms a small outcrop near the center of the coral atoll.
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