FLYING LIZARDS. 123 
are no less interesting, although they are no longer monsters; they 
are distinguished from all other Reptiles by a kind of wing, which is 
a large fold of skin, or membrane, on each side of the body. These 
wings are entirely independent of the other members, being sustained 
by six false ribs, which do not surround the abdomen, but rather 
extend horizontally. They are the only existing examples of our day 
of that organic arrangement which distinguished the Reptiles known 
under the name of /terodacty/, and which belonged to the Jurassic 
period of geology. 
Fig. 29.—F lying Lizard. 
Lad 
Dr. Gray divides the Draconina into three genera, namely :-— 
I.—Dracos, having the ears naked, nostrils below the fore ridge, 
of which three species are described—viz., D. volans (the Flying 
Lizard, Fig. 29), having the scales of the back broad, generally 
smooth, those of the throat granular ; wings grey, fulvous, or brown, 
spotted and marbled with black, sometimes forming four or five 
oblique black bands near the outer edge; the sides with a series of 
large keeled scales: the Timor Flying Lizard (D. viridis timorensis of 
Schlegel)and the Fringed Flying Lizard (D. fimbriatus) are also keeled. 
’ Il.—Draconela, of which there are two species, one (D. 
