REPTILIA. 



This class of Vertebrates is divided into a number of orders, 

 recent as well as extinct. The four recent ones are represented 

 in the Indo- Australian Archipelago : 

 I. Lacertilia, ^ 

 II. Chelonia, 



III. Emydosauria, 



IV. Ophidia. 



This volume deals with the three first-mentioned orders. 



I. Order LACERTILIA. 



Quadrate bone articulated to the skull, distally free; temporal 

 region without or with one temporal arch; the two parts of the 

 mandible united by suture; teeth not in alveoli. Anal opening 

 transverse; copulatory organ present, paired. 



The true lizards, chamaeleons not occurring in the Indo- 

 Australian Archipelago, have the pterygoid in contact with 

 the quadrate; a pectoral arch or an indication of it is present; 

 clavicle present, when the limbs are developed. The tongue 

 is flattened. They may be divided into 20 families, 9 of which 

 are represented in the Indo-Australian fauna. 



Synopsis of families. 



A. Tongue smooth or with long papillae. 



a. Head covered above with granules or small scales. 



1. Body depressed, covered with small granules or 

 scales. Pleurodont; tongue short, feebly bifid 



anteriorly (fig. I. /) Geckonidae^ p. 3. 



2. Body vermiform, covered with imbricate scales. 



Pleurodont; tongue feebly bifid anteriorly (fig. I. 2) PygopodiJac, p. 62. 

 INDO-AUSTRALIAN REPTILES I. i 



