2. PSEUDOCORDYLUS. 3. PLATTSATJRDS. 201 



«. c? . S. Africa. Earl of Derby [P.]- 



6. $ . S. Africa. Sir A. Smith [P.]. 



c-d. <S & yg. S. Africa. Dr. Quaiii [P.]. 



e, f. Ad., stufied. S. Africa. 



g. Skeleton. S. Africa. Sir A. Smith [P.]- 



3. PLATYSAURUS. 



Platysaurus, Smith, III. Zool. S. Afi:, Kept. ; Gray, Cat. Liz. p. 49 ; 

 Peters, Reise n. Mossamb. iii. p. 52. 



Head and body much depressed ; limbs well developed. Head- 

 shields regular ; four parietals ; nostril pierced in the nasal ; a post}- 

 nasal. Ear-opening largo. Dorsal scales granular ; ventrals large, 

 square, smooth, juxtaposed, forming regular longitudinal and trans- 

 verse series. A collar fold. Digits slightly keeled iuferiorly. Tail 

 without spines. Femoral pores. 



South Africa. 



Synopsis of the Species. 



20 longitudinal rows of ventral scales ; no 



occipital 1. capensis, p. 261. 



20 longitudinal rows of ventral scales ; 



occi])ital present 2. c/itttafus, p. 262. 



16 longitudinal rows of ventral scales .... 3. torquatus, p. 262. 



1. Platysaurus capensis. 



Platysaurus capensis, Gray, Cat. p. 49. 

 Platysaurus capensis, Smith, I. c. pi. xl. 



Head much longer than broad. Frontonasal hexagonal, as long as 

 broad ; frontal trapezoid ; interparietal small, lozenge-shaped, in 

 the middle between the two pairs of parietals, of which the 

 posterior is the largest ; no occipital ; four supraoculars, anterior 

 large, triangular, posterior smallest ; four supraciliaries ; lower eye- 

 lid with a transparent disk ; two longitudinal rows of large tem- 

 porals, upper largest ; a loreal ; a large prasorbital ; four infra- 

 orbitals, second and third bordering the lip ; five labials anterior to 

 the second infraorbital. Mental pentagonal ; five lower labials, 

 bordered by a row of five large shields, the fourth of which is much 

 larger than the others ; gular scales small, elongate quadrangular 

 anteriorly, with a median series of slightly enlarged ones, granular 

 under the neck, again increasing in size towards the collar ; latter 

 edged by eight scales. Dorsal scales small, flat, granular, slightly 

 enlarged on tlie vertebral line, minute on the flanks. Youtrals 

 square, in twenty longitudinal and forty transverse series. Pne- 

 anal scales small, the largest hardly larger than the ventrals. Limbs 

 long ; the length of the tibia equals the distance from the end of 

 the snout to the lower inferior corner of the ear-opening ; digits 

 long and slender. Scales on the limbs smooth, feebly keeled on the 

 tibia, granular on the thighs and under the arms ; lower surface of 



