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A USTRALASIA ILL USTRA TED. 



The reptilian fauna of Australia is very large, and all the orders of existing reptiles 

 are well represented. A large- proportion of the snakes are venomous members of the 

 family Ela/>id(C, a family of wide distribution, found in both America and Asia, and 

 comprising about one-half of the venomous snakes of the globe, with some of the most 

 deadly of all. The death-adder alone, of the Australian venomous snakes, differs from the 

 Elapidtc, and approaches the Viper family in some respects. The Australian lizards are 

 likewise extremely numerous, most of them, however, being members of well-known fami- 



KANCAKOU HUNTING IN AUSTRALIA. 



lies, such as the geckoes, scinks, monitors, and others ; but there are three Australian 

 families that are not found elsewhere, namely, the Aprasiidce, the Pygopida, and the 

 Lialidcc, the two last being remarkable snake-like forms. The order of Reptiles (Chelonia), 

 which comprises the turtles and tortoises, is also well represented, and there are three 

 genera of fresh-water tortoises which are not found elsewhere. There are two kinds of 

 crocodiles, the large one (Crocodilus biporcatns), commonly, but erroneously, known in 

 Australia as the " Alligator," a species of wide distribution in the Oriental region, inhabit- 

 ing the mouths of tropical rivers ; .and the small one (Pliilas Jolinstonii}, an inhabitant 

 of fresh water, with resemblances to the long-snouted gavials of the Ganges. 



Australia is devoid of any representatives of the tailed Amphibia (Newts and 

 Salamanders), but the tailless forms are represented by very numerous species of frogs, 

 many of which belong to genera which are peculiar to the Australian region. 



A class of fish-like animals the Dipnoi which connect Amphibia with true fishes in 

 some respects, is represented by a remarkable genus Ccratodus sometimes called the 



