Testudo tabulata, Linnaeus

Vanzolini, Paulo E. & Myers, Charles W., 2015, The Herpetological Collection Of Maximilian, Prince Of Wied (1782 - 1867), With Special Reference To Brazilian Materials, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2015 (395), pp. 1-155 : 29-30

Testudo tabulata, Linnaeus

Plates 5, 6

1820 Reise 1: 263.

1821 Reise 2: 119.

1824 Isis : 662 (diagnosis).

1824 Abbildungen: Lief. 5 (adult).

1825 Beitra¨ge: 51, 597.

1828 Abbildungen: Lief. 12 (juvenile).

PRESENT STATUS: Geochelone denticulata (Linnaeus, 1766) .

REMARKS: Measurements of two specimens are given in the Beitra¨ge, with plastral lengths 218 and 255 mm. The first of two plates in the Abbildungen shows a lateral view of an adult in life (pl. 5); the second shows the shell of a juvenile, with dorsal and ventral views in color and a lateral view in black and white (pl. 6). The figures are excellent.

In the collection there is a shell of an adult female, AMNH R-7043, plastral length 290 mm, possibly the subject of Wied’s first plate. On the plastron is written ‘‘Brasilia, Mucuri.’’

Pritchard and Trebbau (1984: 226–227) suggested that the Atlantic Forest population of Geochelone denticulata is isolated from the main part of its range:

There is evidence that a disjunct population of

G. denticulata occurs or did occur in the coastal

forests of eastern Brazil; ...Maximilian zu Wied

(1820) found empty shells of tortoises at

Tabebue´n (north of Cabo Frio, Edo. Rio de

Janeiro), and recordad tortoises at Morro de

Arara, Rio Mucurí, Edo. Bahía; Belmonte,

Edo. Bahía, where they were not rare; and in the densest vegetation along the Rio Ilhe´us, Edo. Bahía.... Nevertheless, the species appears now to be virtually or completely extirpated from the eastern forests of Brazil.

Wied’s locality information (given by Pritchard in the quote above) comes not from the 1920 Reise as cited by Pritchard and Trebbau, but from page 61 of the Beitra¨ge. ( Wied had few references to this species in the Reise.) And ‘‘Tapebue´n’’ is not a Wied locality but a copying mistake for Tapebucu´ (5 Tapebuc¸u).

Crocodilus sclerops Schneider Plate 7

1820 Reise 1: 153, 230. 20

1821 Reise 2: 117.

1824 Isis : 662 (diagnosis).

1825 Beitra¨ge: 69, 598, pl. 1.

1828 Abbildungen: Lief. 12.

PRESENT STATUS: Wied’s treatment was based on Caiman latirostris (Daudin, 1802 [v. 2]).

REMARKS: Wied misidentified his caimans: sclerops is a synonym of crocodilus Linnaeus, which does not occur in the area. Some anatomical structures are shown in plate 1 of the Beitra¨ge. There are no specimens in the collection.

Gekko incanescens Wied, 1824 Plate 8

1820 Reise 1: 106 (as Gecko spinicauda ).

1824 Isis : 662 (diagnosis and reference to Reise 1: 106).

1825 Beitra¨ge: 101.

1829 Abbildungen: Lief. 13.

PRESENT STATUS: Hemidactylus mabouia (Moreau de Jonne`s, 1818).

REMARKS: The citation in the Reise for this and the following species consists of a tentative attribution to Gecko spinicaudus and of an explicit mention of the type locality, Paulista (see below). The name dates from the 1824 Isis . The description in the Beitra¨ge is good; the illustration ( fig. 2 in pl. 8) is not good, but it does allow identification, given the geckos present in the region.

There are no specimens in the collection. See further under the species following.

Figures

Fig. 2. Pen-and-watercolor sketches dated 1815 and attributed to Prince Maximilian. Top: Gesamtansicht der Expedition (‘‘General View of the expedition’’), showing pack mules, handlers, and military guard. Bottom: Prinz Maximilian mit Teilnehmern seiner Expedition (‘‘Prince Max with members of his expedition’’). From Bosch, 1991: 84–85. (Courtesy of Brazilian Library of Robert Bosch GmbH, Stuttgart)