synonyms [i]Geochelone atlas[/i] and [i]Testudo atlas[/i] (the latter name is the original one from 1880, which is the one used on the label at the museum). The species was discovered in the late 19th century in the Siwalik Hills of northern India. According to Wikipedia it lived from the Miocene to Pleistocene, and had a distribution as far east as what are now the Lesser Sundas, and possibly as far west as Europe. The shell is about 2.1 metres long.
This specimen is a cast of the original shell, and was exhibited at the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1880-1881 before being deposited at the museum.
May 2014
