PTYODACTYLUS. 81 



arranged like the bricks of a wall. Tail long, cylindrical, remark- 

 ably slender, covered with squarish scales which are much larger 

 beneath. Brownish white above (golden during life), dotted or 

 vermiculated with brown ; lower surfaces whitish. 



From snout to vent 3-5 inches ; tail 3-2. 



ffab. Amongst rocks in dark shady ravines on the Tirupati 

 Hills in North Arcot. 



Genus PTYODACTYLUS, 



Gray, Ann. Phil. (2) x. 1825, p. 198. 



Digits slender, free, with a series of transverse plates below, 

 the extremity strongly dilated, with two diverging series of lamellae 

 beneath ; every digit armed with a claw retractile in the anterior 

 notch of the distal expansion. Body covered above with small 

 granular scales, uniform or intermixed with enlarged tubercles ; 

 abdominal scales scarcely imbricate. Pupil vertical. No prseanal 

 or femoral pores. 



Fig. 25. Foot of Ptyodactylus homolepis, lower surface. 



Of the two species of this genus, one inhabits the arid districts 

 of North Africa, Arabia, and Syria, the other Sind. 



82. Ptyodactylus homolepis. 



Ptyodactylus homolepis, Stanford, J. A. S. B. xlv, 1876, pt. 2, p. 19, 

 pi. ii ; Murray, Zool. Sind, p. 358 ; Bouleny. Cat. Liz. i, p. 111. 



Head large, very distinct from neck ; snout slightly longer than 

 the distance between the eye and the ear-opening ; forehead con- 

 cave; ear-opening vertical, subcrescentic. Limbs long and thin. 

 Upper parts covered with small uniform granules, smallest on the 

 back of the head and neck. Nostril pierced between three scales, 

 forming a swelling; rostral six-sided; 14 or 15 upper and as 

 many lower labials ; mental small ; a row of small chin-shields. 

 Ventral scales small, smooth ; larger scales on the pubic region. 

 Tail cylindrical, tapering, covered above with uniform small 

 granules, beneath with larger flat scales. Light brownish grey 

 above, with broad transverse wavy bands of lighter and darker 

 shades ; white beneath. 



From snout to vent 4 inches ; tail 3'4. 



Hab. Sind (Khirthar range, Shikarpur district). 



G 



