Giant Tortoises of the Indian Ocean. The Genus Dipsochelys Inhabiting the Seychelles Islands and the Extinct Giants of Madagascar and the Mascarenes

摘要

There is a rich, centuries-old tradition of natural history books by gentleman naturalists; and tomes on turtles and tortoises are particularly noteworthy in this genre. The volume under review, an extension of this custom, is attractively presented, with glossy paper, tight binding, and 188 figures, most of which are in color. Its eight chapters are: Introduction; Identification of the Indian Ocean giant tortoises and theories of their evolution; The morphology of giant tortoises; Taxonomy; Ecology; The discovery of Indian Ocean giant tortoises and their history; Conservation; and Bibliography. An enormous amount of historic, factual, theoretical, hypothetical, and speculative information is summarized in the book, presented together with a wealth of old, dil'ficult-to-find text and photos.