310 Records of the Indian Museum. TVot,. IX, 



Convenient in some respects as is the order of species adopted 

 in the " Fauna", it seems possible to find one that exhibits their 

 affinities more clearly. The species now assigned to Gymnodady- 

 lus have at one time or another been distributed in several 

 generic groups, but these, b}^ the consent of herpetologists, have 

 either been abandoned altogether or else restricted to lizards no 

 longer included with the forms to be considered here. In the case of 

 the abandoned genera there can be no doubt that the characters 

 on which separation was based were not of a sufficiently definite 

 nature to bear the interpretation put upon them. Nevertheless, 

 the genus as now restricted falls naturally into several groups, 

 distinguished by biological and geographical and to some extent 

 anatomical features. Among the Indian, Burmese and Ceylon ese 

 forms it is possible to recognize 5 such groups, as follows : — 



Group I. Type : Stenodactylus scaber, Riippel. 



The lizards of this group are small ground-geckos mainly 

 diurnal in habits and of moderately stout form, although usually 

 somewhat depressed. Their colouration is always indefinite and 

 their most striking structural feature lies in the regular longitu- 

 dinal series of large and prominent keeled tubercles that ornament 

 their backs. Their tails, which are cylindrical or subcylindrical, 

 are not prehensile. The distribution of the group is essentially 

 Palaearctic and its representatives are found only in the north- 

 western districts of our area. Indian species are G. montium- 

 salsorum, G. scaber, [G. brevipcs] and G. kachhensis. Among the 

 extra-Indian forms is G. elonoakis, Blanford, of which the types 

 are in the Indian Museum (Nos. 5848-9, 15S51 and 4208). It is 

 found in Eastern Turkestan. 



Group II. Type: Gymnodactylus stoliczkai, Steindachner. 



This species is an isolated one, distinguished from those of 

 the previous group by its comparatively smooth back, flattened 

 form and expanded tail. It inhabits Eastern Turkestan and the 

 neighbouring parts of Kashmir 



Group III. Type: Puellula rubida, Blyth. 



The species of this group are slender lizards of moderate size 

 and mainly nocturnal and arboreal in habits, although they often 

 hide on the ground by day. Their colouration is never con- 

 spicuous,^ but they bear narrow, irregular cross-bars on the dorsal 

 surface The dorsal lepidosis consists of minute rounded granules 

 with larger and more prominent tubercles scattered amongst them: 

 transverse subcaudal plates are never present. The group is an 

 Oriental one, ranging as far east as the Philippines and no further 



J As a rule it is less so in fresh specimens than in those which have been for a 

 long time in spirit. 



