6 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



The body is stoutly built, being only slightly compressed 

 on the sides ; it possesses a series of spine-like lobes ex- 

 tending, but for a small interruption on the nape, from 

 behind the head to the end of the tail. The latter organ, 

 which is comparatively short, is very thick and somewhat 

 compressed, and is capable of regeneration as in lizards. 



The limbs are well-developed, the fore limbs being a 

 little shorter than the hind ones ; the digits, five in number 

 on both hand and foot, are webbed at the base and 



A 



Fig. I. — Lower jaws, showing the acrodont dentition (a), 

 and pleurodont dentition (b). 



(From B. M. Guide to Reptile Gallery. ) 



provided with strong claws ; the eye is rather large, brown 

 in colour, with a vertical pupil ; the tongue is short, thick 

 and not very protrusible ; the nostrils are small and lateral ; 

 the ear is absent, as in snakes ; the teeth, which seem to form 

 part of the jaw itself, so completely are their bases fused 

 with the bone, belong to the so-called acrodont type, being 

 inserted on the edge of the jaw, in opposition to the 

 dentition known as -pleurodont.) in which they are applied 

 to the inner side ; those in front are incisor-like and form a 

 sort of beak, whence the name Rhynchocephalia. The 

 scales on the upper parts are granular, intermixed with 



