46. DACTYCHILIKION. 47. PHELStTMA.. 209 



46. DACTYCHILIKION. 



Dactychilikion, Thominot, Bull. Soc. Philom. (7) ii. 1878, p. 254. 



Digits dilated at the apex only, spatulate, inferiorly with trans- 

 verse undivided lamellae furnished on their hinder edge with fine 

 fringes giving them a felt-like appearance. No claws (?). Back 

 covered with small hexagonal scales. Abdominal scales large, 

 hexagonal. 



South Africa. 



1. DactychiliMon braconnieri. 



Dactychilikion braconnieri, Thorn. I. c. 



Limbs long and slender. Five lamellae under the digits ; seven 

 plates of different shapes on the upper side. Seven upper and eight 

 lower labials ; three chin-shields. Tail very slender and flat at its 

 extremity, as long as head and body. Olive-green above, marbled 

 with blackish ; three small transverse black spots near the insertion 

 of the thighs ; limbs with reddish-brown chevron-shaped bands ; 

 tail annulate with black ; abdomen yellowish white. Total length 

 112 millim. 



Near Lake N'Gami. 



47. PHELSUMA. 



Platydactylus, part., Cuv. Regne Anim. ii. p. 45. 



Phelsuma, Gray, Ann. Phil. (2) x. 1825, p. 199, and Cat. Liz. p. 166 ; 



Gilnth. Rept. Brit. Ind, p. 112. 

 Anoplopus, part., Wagl. Syst. Amph. p. 142. 

 Platydactylus, part., Dum. ^ Bibr. iii. p. 290. 

 Anoplopus, Fitziny. Syst. Rept. p. 99. 



Digits strongly dilated, free, clawless, inner rudimentary, with 

 undivided lamellae below. Pupil round ; eyelid distinct all round 

 the eye. Males with praeanal or femoral pores. 



Madagascar, Comoro, Seychelles, Mauritius, Bourbon, Rodriguez, 

 and Andaman Islands. 



All the species agree in the following characters : — The head is 

 rather elongate and the snout obtusely conical ; the eye is small for 

 the family, with circular pupil and a well-developed lid all round ; 

 the ear is round or vertically oval. The limbs are stout ; the digits 

 very unequal in size ; the inner appears as a small tubercle ; the 

 longest or fourth is narrow in its basal half. The body is depressed 

 and covered with small, subequal, granular scales. The males have 

 two series of pores uniting in an angular line in front of the vent ; 

 in both sexes two small transverse slits behind the anal cleft. The 

 tail is more or less depressed, tapering, and formed of more or less 

 marked segments. The head is covered with granular scales, largest 

 on the snout. The mental is subtriangular and does not separate 

 the inner chin-shields. The scales on the belly are rather large, 

 flat, imbricate. 



