The Herpetological Collection Of Maximilian, Prince Of Wied (1782 - 1867), With Special Reference To Brazilian Materials Author Vanzolini, Paulo E. Author Myers, Charles W. text Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2015 2015-06-26 2015 395 1 155 http://www.bioone.org/doi/10.1206/910.1 journal article 10.1206/910.1 0003-0090 5400065 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.