6 REPTILES AND BATFL^CHIANS 



The body is stoutly built, being only slightly compressed 

 on the sides ; it possesses a series of spine-like lobes ex- 

 tending, but for a small interruption on the nape, from 

 behind the head to the end of the tail. The latter organ, 

 which is comparatively short, is very thick and somewhat 

 compressed, and is capable of regeneration as in lizards. 



The limbs are well-developed, the fore limbs being a 

 little shorter than the hind ones ; the digits, five in number 

 on both hand and foot, are webbed at the base and 



Fig. I. — Lower jaws, showing the acrodont dentition {a), 

 and pleurodont dentition (b). 



{From B.M. Guide to Reptile Gallery.) 



provided with strong claws ; the eye is rather large, brown 



in colour, with a vertical pupil ; the tongue is short, thick 



and not very protrusible ; the nostrils are small and lateral ; 



the ear is absent, as in snakes ; the teeth, which seem to form 



part of the jaw itself, so completely are their bases fused 



with the bone, belong to the so-called acrodont type, being 



inserted on the edge of the jaw, in opposition to the 



dentition known as pleurodont, in which they are apphed 



to the inner side ; those in front are incisor-like and form a 



sort of beak, whence the name Rhynchocephaha. The 



scales on the upper parts are granular, intermixed with 



