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Book Reviews Source: Copeia, 104(4):965-976 Book Reviews Source: Copeia, 104(4):965-976. Published By: The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1643/OT-16-490 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1643/OT-16-490 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/terms_of_use. Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. BOOK REVIEWS Copeia 104, No. 4, 2016, 965–976 graphical issues. Many of the ideas presented are no less controversial than those in Chapter 1. The problem is that different methodologies in separate studies of these issues Western Indian Ocean Tortoises: Ecology, Diversity, have often yielded different or ambiguous conclusions Evolution, Conservation, Palaeontology. J. Gerlach concerning the relationships and/or timing of divergence (Ed.). 2014. SIRI Scientific Press. ISBN 9780992997908. 352 in these tortoise groups. Indeed, the true status of some of the p. £37.99 (ca. $51.00) (soft cover).—A naturalist with a time three surviving morphotypes of Aldabrachelys and their machine and interest in tortoise diversity could hardly do former and recent interactions (confounded by probable better than to set a course for the islands of the western recent interbreeding) are particularly thorny problems. Indian Ocean (WIO). The grand tour might entail a visit to Interesting discussions are provided of the role of changing Madagascar about 2,000 years ago—sometime before settle- ocean currents in tortoise dispersal (and its timing) to the ment by Austronesian seafarers from the Greater Sunda islands and the role of Madagascar rivers in the divergence of Islands—when two giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys grandidieri populations of Pyxis, as is a discussion of the role of and A. abrupta, and presumably four smaller species [not conservation genetics in strategies to conserve endangered including the introduced Kinyxis]) that are still extant today species. roamed amidst the spectacular diversity of lemurs, elephant Chapter 3 provides an overview of the discovery, explora- birds, and other endemic fauna and flora present at that tion, and colonization of the WIO islands and the resulting time. On the return to the present, a visit to the Seychelles complex interactions with resident tortoises. Authors A. Islands and Aldabra Atoll would provide other forms of Cheke and R. Bour assembled an impressive amount of Aldabrachelys to admire. The icing on the cake for the time widely scattered literature, much of it composed of older traveler in the early 1500s before European colonization, accounts by early observers of the islands, their people and would be the opportunity to meet five species of Cylindraspis wildlife, and weave together a fascinating, but ultimately tortoises of the Mascarene Islands at the height of their tragic account of human-tortoise interactions. The chapter diversity and incredible numbers. All the while the traveler begins with an account of the megafauna-like roles larger would be hobnobbing with flocks of Dodos (Raphus cuculla- tortoises play in island ecosystems. The authors then go on to tus), Rodrigues Solitaires (Pezophaps solitaria), and other now- discuss evidence (from paleontological and early literature extinct endemic wildlife. All Cylindraspis and Aldabrachelys, sources) for the presence (or lack thereof) of tortoises on the with the exception of the population of A. gigantea on various WIO islands and atolls, when they were likely Aldabra, are essentially gone—driven to extinction by the present, and whether humans encountered them. Whenever incredible rapacity of humans and their introduced species tortoises were present they soon became a source of food for (pigs, cats, rats, etc.) that decimated these tortoises. With the invading humans and a staple in trade with other islands. exception of the Aldabra tortoises, the only remaining The latter became more important as tortoise stocks began to natural populations of tortoises in the WIO islands are the dwindle from overexploitation and other factors. In addition, four smaller, but equally impressive, Madagascar tortoises in ships began to harvest ever-larger numbers of living tortoises the genera Astrochelys (two species) and Pyxis (two species), to feed their crews. These issues are discussed for each island, all critically endangered. and beautiful old plates of WIO tortoises and artists’ sketches If you missed out on the voyage back to these islands for of early explorers and colonists among tortoises and other some reason, the book in review here, Western Indian Ocean wildlife in the Mascarenes of the late 1500s and 1600s Tortoises: Ecology, Diversity, Evolution, Conservation, Palaeontol- provide additional historical flavor. The earlier an island was ogy, ably edited by Justin Gerlach, is a masterful account of colonized and/or became a provisioning port for sailing the extinct and extant tortoises of these islands. It deserves a ships, the sooner the demise of its resident tortoises. This place in any herpetologists’ or natural historian’s library and ripple effect initially began with the peopling of Madagascar we highly recommend it. The extensive references alone are early in the Common Era (Lawler, 2016). Its giant tortoises worth the price of the book, as they compile a wealth of were extinct by approximately 1,000 years ago. Next came scattered, difficult-to-access literature. Eminent turtle and the discovery and colonization of the Mascarenes in the primate conservationist Russ Mittermeier wrote a short but 1500s and 1600s. Within 200 years their tortoises were eloquent preface, followed by 11 chapters authored by many extinct or nearly so. The Seychelles became the next source of the recognized experts in WIO tortoise conservation and of giant tortoise exploitation, and by about 1800 the only biology. tortoises abundant enough to be collected were on remote The first two chapters deal with some of the most Aldabra Atoll. controversial issues related to the tortoises. The first by The causes of tortoise destruction were the usual ones: Gerlach provides an overview of nomenclatural issues and direct consumption for food by colonists and sailors, and the recommends a controversial and contentious judgment by tortoise trade, but also the introduction of predatory species the ICZN to standardize the nomenclatural terminology used such as bushpigs (Potamochoerus larvatus; Madagascar), feral in this book (and admittedly ‘‘deplored’’ by some of the domestic hogs (Sus domesticus), cats (Felis catus), and rats chapter contributors!). (Rattus sp.) as well as habitat alteration played destructive Chapter 2, by Gerlach and S. Paquette, reviews current roles. The specific forces to blame are explained for each thinking concerning evolution, divergence, and biogeo- island and time period. This chapter, although necessarily Ó 2016 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists DOI: 10.1643/OT-16-490 Published online: 19 December 2016 966 Copeia 104, No. 4, 2016 gloomy, provides interesting ecological and behavioral data. tions are clearly presented and very interesting. The result is a Some of this information was derived from paleontological clear picture of the species composition within Cylindraspis work (Chapters 4 and 5) and modern research using on Rodrigues (C. vosmaeri and C. peltastes), Mauritius (C. advanced technology and techniques applied to study fossil inepta and C. triserrata), and Reunion´ (C. indica). The and/or subfossil material (Burleigh and Arnold, 1986). In morphological information and its relevance to the biology other cases (with the exception of Madagascar), more and ecology of each species is a particularly fascinating information was obtained from writings of contemporary contribution of this chapter. For example, extreme size, observers of the living tortoises. Some observations by these cervical vertebrae structure, and shell-shape differences (usually) untrained naturalists must be taken with a grain of (much larger and saddle shaped with a raised front and salt (e.g., it is unlikely that nesting sites of Mauritius tortoises elongated cervical vertebrae in C. vosmaeri; smaller and more were in hollow trees as some early Dutch accounts suggest- typical domed carapace with shorter cervical vertebrae in C. ed). Other observations of aggregations of tortoises, popula- peltastes) of the Rodrigues tortoises suggest probable sympat- tion size, elevational migrations, cold tolerance in the ry allowed by dietary niche divergence (browsing in C. uplands, cave use to shelter during cyclones, diet, and vosmaeri vs. grazing in C. peltastes, as seen convergently in capability to survive without food and water for months as several extant populations of Gala´pagos tortoises). The a
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