RE-DESCRTPTION OF AN AUSTRALIAN SKINK. 

 By E. p. Ramsay efe J. Douglas Ogilby. 



Lygosoma MACCOOEYI, sp. nov* 



Habit lacertiform ; tlie distance between the end of the snout 

 and the fore limb is contain(^d once and two-tifths in the distance 

 Vietween the axiUa and groin. Snout short, obtusely rounded. 

 Lower eyelid with an undivided transparent disc. Nostril pierced 

 in the nasal ; no supi-a-nasals ;j fronto-nasal much broader than 

 long, forming a liroad suture with the rosti-al, and a narrow one 

 witJi the frontal ; prefrontals large, much bent down on the 

 sides ;:|: frontal pentagonal, forming a rounded angle posteriorly, 

 equal in length to or but little shorter than the frontoparietal, 

 and in contact with the two anterior supraoculars ; four supra- 

 oculars, the second the largest ; seven supraciliaries ; fronto- 

 parietal single, followed by a small interparietal ; parietals 

 forming a median suture behind the interparietal ; a pair of 

 nuchals and a pair of temporals bordering the parietals ; fifth 

 upper labial much the largest, entering the eye. Ear-opening 

 oval, slightly smaller than the transparent palpebral disc, with a 

 single obtuse lobule anteriorly. Thirty-two scales round the 

 middle of the body, the dorsals \ery indistinctly bi- or tricarinate, 

 the laterals a little smaller than the dorsals or ventrals ; preanal 

 .scales slightly enlarged. The hind limb when stretched forward 

 reaches the elbow ; fingers four, toes five ; sub-digital lamella? 

 twenty to twenty three under the fourth toe. Tail one-third 

 longer than the head and body. Colors — Above rich olive-brown, 

 most of the scales from the shoulders to nearly the end of the 

 tail with two or th)-ee light-blue longitudinal pencillings which 

 are generally edged with black ; these are absent on the sides of 

 the body, but present on those of the tnil ; in some specimens 

 there are two Ijroad orange lateral bands between the limbs, 

 separated by a blue l)and ; in others a single orange band bordered 

 abo%e and below by blue, while in a third section the orange is 



*Since publishing the description of the original specimen in the Proc. 

 Linn. Soc, N.S. Wales, Dec, 1889, several fine specimens have been 

 received, the examination of which necessitates the amplification of that 

 description as here given. 



fin one specimen there is a lar^e supra-nasal on one side, which is 

 ■wanting on the other. 



Jin one spfci«nt^ these shields are in contact with the second upper 

 laWal. 



