1. PTaopus. 241 



Snout scarcely prominent, rounded, as long as the distance be- 

 tween the orbit and the ear-opening ; canthus rostralis obtuse ; 

 eye small, with rudimentary circular scaly lid; ear-opening oval, 

 oblique. Tail, when intact, at least twice as long as the body. 

 Rudimentary hind limbs measuring about the distance between 

 eye and end of snout in females, more than the distance between 

 the posterior border of the eye and the end of the snout in males. 

 Ten to fourteen praeanal pores. Rostral low, from twice and a half 

 to thrice and a half as broad as high ; nostril between the first 

 labial and three nasals, the two anterior of which are band-like and 

 extend across the upper surface of the snout, where they form a 

 suture with their fellows, or are separated by one or two small 

 azygos plates ; a large polygonal prsefrontal, separated from the 

 nasals by two (or one) pairs of small transverse plates, its trans- 

 versely truncate posterior border forming a suture with the frontal, 

 which is pentagonal and about once and two thirds as long as broad ; 

 the posterior angle of the latter plate wedged in between the pair of 

 parietals, which are nearly as large as the frontal, and subhexagonal ; 

 sometimes a narrow band-like plate on the outer side of the 

 parietals ; two large supraorbitals ; loreal region with numerous 

 small polygonal plates, from four to seven in a row, between the 

 orbit and the nasal ; five to seven upper labials, separated from the 

 orbit by a row of scales ; mental large, broadly trapezoid ; four to 

 six lower labials, the first or the two first much dilated vertically. 

 Keels of the dorsal scales forming regular lines on the body, alter- 

 nate on the tail. Twenty-two or twenty-three (in one specimen 

 twenty-one) longitudinal series of scales round the middle of the 

 body, ten smooth and twelve or thirteen (or eleven) keeled. The 

 enlarged ventral scales twice as broad as long, in 70 to 85 longi- 

 tudinal series. Two enlarged anal scales separated from the perfo- 

 rated praeanal scales by one or two rows of scales. Coppery grey 

 above, uniform or with three or five longitudinal series of blackish 

 dots or elongate quadrangular spots ; lower surfaces more or less 

 marbled or pulverated with grey. 



cS $ 



Head 16 16 millim. 



Width of head 10 10 „ 



Body 165 155 „ 



Tail 400 345 „ 



Hind limb 11 6 „ 



Australia and Tasmania. 



a, h-d, (S & hgr. Champion Bay, N.W. Mr. Duboulay [C.]. 



coast of Australia. 

 e-f. cJ $. Swan River. Sir J. Richardson [P.]. 



g. $. Garden Island, Sydney, J. B. Jukes, Esq. [P.j. 



h. $, Sydney. R. Schiitte JC,]. 



i, k,l,m,n. (S,2,S^ Jg- N. S. Wales. G. Kreffl, Esq. [P.]. 



0. 2- Australia. Dr. Mair [P.]. (Type 



of P. squatniceps.) 

 B 



