512 



LACERTILIA GECKONES 



CHAP. 



ceilings whitened. It was naturally surmised that so long a 

 suspension of its accustomed haljits would liave led to the 

 disappearance of the little lizard ; but on the return of its 

 old friends, it made its entrance as usual at their first 

 dinner the instant the cloth was removed." 



Ptyrliozoon. — The digits 

 have the same structure as 

 described in the genus Gecko, 

 but they are entirely webbed. 

 The extraordinary feature of 

 Ptychozoon is the membran- 

 ous expansions on the sides of 

 the head, body, limbs, and tail, 

 which are said to act as para- 

 chutes. P. homaloceplialum, 

 the only species, inhabits the 

 Malay Islands and the Malay 

 Peninsula. It reaches a 

 length of 8 inches. A speci- 

 men obtained by F. H. Bauer 

 in Java, in the month of 

 November, laid two eggs a 

 few days after its capture. 

 One young was hatched in 

 the middle of the following 

 May, and two days later 

 another came out of the 

 second egg. The character- 

 istic folds of the skin were 

 already clearly discernilile. 



Sub-Fam. 2. Euble- 

 pharinae. — Differing from 

 the true Geckos by their 

 procoelous vertebrae and the fusion of the two parietal bones 

 into one. The eyelids are not reduced, but remain functional. 

 This sub -family is undoubtedly a heterogeneous assembly, as 

 indicated by the very scattered distribution of its few species 

 (about seven), in India, West Africa, and Central America. 



Sub-Fam. 3. Uroplatinae, composed of a few species of the 

 genus Uroplates in Madagascar. The distinctive cliaracters of 



Fig. 121. — Ptychozoon homalocephalum. 



