British Reptiles and Amphibians 



Order 3. The GYMNOPHIONA (Gr. gumnos y naked ; 

 aphis, snake). This Order includes wormlike Am- 

 phibians, with only rudimentary eyes, and having no 

 tail or limbs of any kind. 



As the reader will already have divined, in Britain we 

 have no representatives of the third Order, which, 

 indeed, only includes about twenty-five species the 

 world over. Our three Newts belong to the Order 

 Urodela, Suborder Salamandroidea, Family Salaman- 

 dridae. Of the Order Urodela there are some one 

 hundred species in the world. Our two Frogs and two 

 Toads are of the Order Anura, Suborder Phaneroglossa 

 (visible tongue). This Suborder is classed into two 

 Groups (i) Arcifera ; (2) Firmisterna. The Arcifera 

 are divided into three Families, to the first of which, 

 the Bofonidae, our Toads belong. The Group Firmis- 

 terna enbraces one Family, the Ranidae, inclusive of 

 our two Froggies. The Order Anura has about eight 

 hundred representatives. From the figures given it 

 will be seen that there are over nine hundred existing 

 Amphibians, of which only seven can be claimed as 

 British. 



The Reptiles are classified thus : 



Order i. The RHYNCHOCEPHALA (Gr., runchos, 

 strong snout ; cephale, head). There is but one species 

 of this Order, and it is resident in New Zealand. It 

 differs from all existing Reptiles, and is regarded as a 

 surviving remnant of an Order which has perished. 



Order 2. LACERTILLIA Lizards. 



82 



