318 ZOOLOGY. 



There are also reptiles which have the fingers capable ot 

 beini: opposed to each other as in the hand of man; in the 

 (aim-Iron (Fiir. i>7r,) they are arranged into two packets. en- 

 abling them to hold on to the branch ; they have also a pre- 

 hensile tail, and thus they are in fact climbing animals. 



Fig. 275. The Gecko of the Walls. 



Finally, in other reptiles more formed for an aquatic life, 

 the feet and hands are formed like oars : the turtle (Fig. 277) 

 is the only reptile which at present offers us this kind of 



Fig. 276. The Common Cameleon. 



structure; but in remote epochs of the geological history of 

 the globe, our seas were peopled with large animals with 

 swimming paws resembling oars, and having many points of 

 resemblance with the reptiles and serpents of the present day. 



