File:The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America (1904) (20785335885).jpg

Title: The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America
Identifier: cu31924073178224 (find matches)
Year: 1904 (1900s)
Authors: Hornaday, William Temple, 1854-1937
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York, C. Scribner's Sons
Contributing Library: Cornell University Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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THE TORTOISES 335 ished a marvellous series of gigantic reptilian forms. Beside some of these extinct creatures our largest reptiles are mere pygmies, and to-day they are equalled in bulk only by the rhinoce- ros, hippopotamus, elephant, and whale. The great Brontosaurus, whose fossil remains were found in the bad-lands of Wyoming, was sixty feet long, and some of the great Dinosaurs, or kangaroo-like lizards, stood over thirty feet in height! Beside the Giant Tortoises, our Gopher Tor- toise,! the largest aUied species of tortoise we possess, seems insignificantly small. The largest specimens weigh only fifteen pounds. This Excepting these and similar forms, the small Chelonians find refuge from danger in the watery depths of the ponds and streams they inhabit. The Box Tortoise, however, formed for life on land, is so small it has required a special inven- tion for its protection. Its shell is high, and contains sufficient room to permit the head, legs and tail to be fully with- drawn within it. Across the centre of the lower shell, or plastron, a practical double hinge has been provided. Thus, in time of danger, the animal completely withdraws its head, legs and tail, at both ends it draws the lower shell tightly against the upper, and all the soft parts are en- im^^^^^jmW. SS^. ^^\% -'1-'%
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BOX TORTOISES. species is found from South Carolina to Florida, and westward to Texas. It has a very thick and strong shell, and burrows in the earth of the sandy pine-forests in which it lives. Its shell is smooth, and unmarked by bright colors, and its flesh is palatable food. The Box Tortoise^ is, to my mind, one of the small wonders of Nature, the special purpose of which is to point out how far "specialization" can go in fitting an animal to survive. After all, the most interesting things about animals are tlie lessons they teach bearing upon the devel- opment of the world and its inhabitants. ' Tes-tu'do pol-y-phe'mus. 2 Cis-tu'do Carolina. tirely out of reach, behind strong walls of bone. The h)ox of bone is as tightly closed at all points as a strongly made cigar-box with the cover nailed down. The Box Tortoise is an illustration of the fact that several species of tortoises are quite hand- somely colored, in geometric patterns of black or red lines, on lighter ground-colors. A repre- sentative specimen of tliis species is covered with an open fret-work of black bands laid in a me- chanical pattern on a lemon-yellow ground-color. North of the range of the gopher tortoise, the Box Tortoise is our only genuine tortoise,—living only upon land, and never inhabiting water. It is common all around New York City, and is

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