208 NOTES ON THE FAUNA AND FLORA OF SARAWAK. 



mals, represented in South Africa by the mole-Hke rodents 

 (Georychiis) and by those pecuhar ' moles, the Chrysochlorida?. 

 Sarawak has no representative. Of special interest on account 

 of structural peculiarities are the following Sarawak mammals : 

 Siniia satynis, the ourangutan ; Nasalis larvatus, the long-nosed 

 monkey ; Ptilocercus lowi, the pentailed shrew ; the naked-tailed 

 Gymnuriis raffJesii, and the prehensile-tailed Arctidis binturong. 



The Reptilia are particularly well developed both in South 

 Africa and in ' Sarawak. Of lizards there are Seines, Agamids, 

 Geckos and Monitors in both areas, but Borneo has only one 

 Lacertid, and has no representative whatever of the Zonuridte 

 or of the Chamgeleons so common in South Africa. Considering 

 the Agamidae, whereas those of South Africa are in general* sand 

 and rock-frequenting forms, depressed in shape and of a brown 

 or earthy colour, the Agamids of Borneo {Calotes and Gonyo- 

 cephalus) are purely arboreal forms, in shape laterally compressed 

 and green in colour : and another genus of Agamidae, the Draco. 

 of many species, has developed regular parachutes on the sides of 

 its body and is known as the " flying lizard." A somewhat 

 similar modification of the sides of the body into large membranous 

 expansions has occurred in Ptychozoon homalocephalum. which 

 belongs to an entirely different group of lizards, the Geckos. But 

 whilst the lizards of Borneo are so specially adapted for arboreal 

 life, those of South Africa are more specialised for life on the veld, 

 and in certain groups they have become serpentiform in shape. 

 The species of Zonurus are strong-limbed creatures of normal build, 

 but in the closely-related genus Chamasaiira the bod}^ and tail 

 are much elongated and the limbs are atrophied— in C. cenea both 

 pairs of limbs are present and, though small, are perfect, in C. 

 anguina the lim.bs are both styliform, whilst in C. macrolepis the 

 creature has dispensed with its fore limbs altogether. And this 

 very same process has occurred also in other lizard families — for 

 example, in the Gerrhosauridae and in the Scincids where, in the 

 species of Scelotes, we have much elongated lizards with limbs in 

 various degrees of degeneration, or absent altogether. This 

 modification appears to be in adaptation to a life on sandy soil. 

 My friend, Mr. F. Noome, tells me that small lizards of normal 

 build, when travelling on sandy soil, make use of the tail very 

 largely in progression, as the slender legs sink into the sand and are 

 insufficient to carry them along. But the Chamcssai4ra has 

 developed the tail to such an extent that the creature has no use 

 for legs which, being a hindrance rather than a help in sandy 

 localities, have aborted. It is a significant fact that the living 

 ChamcBsaura cannot break off its tail at the base — though it occa- 

 sionally does so near the apex of the tail — as ordinary lizards are 

 apt to do in emergencies. 



In South Africa there are a number of burrowing lizards, mostly 

 degenerate members of the Scincidae : such are the several species 

 of Acontias, the Herpetosaura and the Typhlosaurus with its 

 obsolete eyes. But Sarawak has nothing whatever of this kind. 



* Agama atyicollis of South Africa is arboreal in habit and of a brilliant 

 blue green colour. 



