28 



GUIDE TO REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS. 



Malay countries, and the curious Short-tailed Gecko {Nephurus 

 Icevis, 357) of Australia. 



A small number of snake-like Lizards constitute the family 

 Pygopodidce, of which Pygopm lepidopus (386) ^ud Lialis hurtoni 

 (385) are the best-known. Examples of each are shown in the case. 

 These Scale-footed Lizards, as they may be called, are quite destitute 

 of fore-limbs, and the hind-limbs are reduced to a pair of scale-like 

 flaps. The teeth are of the pleurodont type, the eyes are devoid of 



Fig. 28. 



jcap 



Spine-tailed Lizards {Uromastix acanthurus) ; ^nat. size. (Compare No. 377-) 



movable eyelids and have the pupil vertical, and the tongue is 

 cleft and extensile. The long tail is very brittle. 



The family group Af/at7iidce, typified by the Stellion Lizard 

 {Agama stellio, 370) of southern Europe, comprises a large assemblage 

 of Lizards differing from nearly all others in that their dentition is 

 of the acrodont type, that is to say, the teeth are attached to the 

 summits of the jaws (fig. 29 a). Other features are the broad and 

 short tongue, and the absence of bony plates or nodules in the skin ; 

 but spines, especially on the head and tail, are often present. There 



