PENTAD ACTYLUS FELINUS. 117 



PENTAD ACT YLUS, Gray. 



Fingers and toes but slightly dilated in their basal half, with a series of 

 undivided, imbricate transverse plates below the dilated portion, the ungual 

 half being compressed and angularly bent ; all the fingers and toes clawed, 

 each claw being retractile into a compressed, bilobed sheath. 



Only three species ai'e known — two from British India; the other, undescribed, from 

 Borneo. 



* Snout above with five shields behind the rostral. 



a. Brown, sides of the body with some scattered pearl-coloured dots ; 

 the upper and lower parts of the tail with irregular white spots, 



each being composed of dots P. borneemis, u. sp.* 



6. A double series of light ocellated spots along the back P.felinus,Tp.ll7. 



** Snout with a siiigle shield above behind the rostral ; part of the nostril 



formed Ijy the rostral P. duvaucelii, p. 118. 



Pentadactylus FELiNUS. (Plate XII. figs. F, F.) 



The habit of this lizard is rather slender ; the head is depressed, elongate-triangular, very 

 distinct from the neck ; trunk somewhat thin ; tail tapering, slightly compressed ; limbs 

 slender, fingers and toes rather short. All parts are finely granular. There are two series 

 of shields above and behind the rostral, two in the anterior series, and three in the posterior ; 

 nostril in the hind part of a shield contiguous with the rostral ; another small shield above it. 

 Twelve upper and ten lower labials, Avhich are longer than high ; the lower labials are 

 accompanied by a series of similar chin-shields. (Two angular series of scales larger than 

 the rest, before the praeanal region, from which they are separated by a furrow.) Pupil 

 erect; tympanum sunk; opening of the ear rather small, round. Limbs rather slender, the 

 fore limb extending beyond the orbit when laid forwards. Fingers and toes rather short ; 

 the basal phalanges are but very slightly dilated, provided with a series of narrow transverse 

 plates beneath ; the penultimate and ungual phalanges are strongly compressed ; each claw 

 is hidden below a compressed cap-like sheath, which is bilobed in front, the sheath ha\ing 

 the appearance of a strong, compressed claw. The upper parts are brownish ; head marbled 

 with lighter above; two series of large, irregularly rounded light spots, edged with dark 

 brown, run along the back; upper lip whitish; lower parts whitish, speckled with brown; 

 tail with some irregular black spots edged with lighter. 



A single specimen, said to be from Singapore, is in the British Museum Collection ; head 

 and body 3^ inches, tail (renewed) 2 inches. Figure F of Plate XII. represents the animal 

 of the natural size, figures F' the structure of the claws magnified : \iz. the right-hand figure 



* Otherwise very similar to P. felinus. 



