Neither Have That Rapid Movement, So
Characteristic Of The Genera Lacerta And Iguana.
They are both
herbivorous, although the kind of vegetation on which they
feed is so very different.
Mr. Bell has given the name to the
genus from the shortness of the snout: indeed, the form of
the mouth may almost be compared to that of the tortoise:
one is led to suppose that this is an adaptation to their
herbivorous appetites. It is very interesting thus to find a
well-characterized genus, having its marine and terrestrial
species, belonging to so confined a portion of the world. The
aquatic species is by far the most remarkable, because it is
the only existing lizard which lives on marine vegetable
productions. As I at first observed, these islands are not so
remarkable for the number of the species of reptiles, as for
that of the individuals, when we remember the well-beaten
paths made by the thousands of huge tortoises - the many
turtles - the great warrens of the terrestrial Amblyrhynchus
- and the groups of the marine species basking on the coast-
rocks of every island - we must admit that there is no other
quarter of the world where this Order replaces the herbivorous
mammalia in so extraordinary a manner. The geologist
on hearing this will probably refer back in his mind to the
Secondary epochs, when lizards, some herbivorous, some
carnivorous, and of dimensions comparable only with our
existing whales, swarmed on the land and in the sea. It is,
therefore, worthy of his observation, that this archipelago,
instead of possessing a humid climate and rank vegetation,
cannot be considered otherwise than extremely arid, and, for
an equatorial region, remarkably temperate.
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