VERTEBRATA: REPTILIA. 



551 



Lizard (Chlamydosaurus] of Australia, which has the neck furnished on 

 each side with a membranous plaited frill, which can be erected at will. 

 More remarkable than the above are the little Flying Dragons (Draco) 

 of the East Indies and Indian Archipelago. In these singular little Lizards 

 there is a broad membranous expansion on each side, formed by a fold 

 of the integument, supported upon the five or six posterior or false ribs, 

 which run straight out from the spinal column (fig. 304). By means of 



Fig. 304. Fore-portion of the skeleton of Draco volans, the tail being omitted, 

 showing the posterior or false ribs supporting the parachute. 



these lateral expansions of the skin, the Draco can take long flying leaps 

 from tree to tree, and can pursue the insects on which it feeds ; but the 

 lateral membranes simply act as parachutes, and there is no power of true 

 flight, properly so called. 



The Geckotida form a large family of Lizards, comprising a 

 great number of species, occurring in almost all parts of the 

 world between and near the tropics. The tongue is wide, flat, 

 scarcely notched at its free extremity, and hardly at all pro- 

 trusible. The eyes are large, mostly with extremely short lids, 

 the pupil mostly vertical and linear, but sometimes circular. 

 The vertebrae are amphiccelous. The teeth are numerous, 

 small, compressed, and implanted on the inner edge of the 

 jaw. The nails (when present) are mostly hooked and retrac- 

 tile, and the toes are furnished below with imbricated plates 

 or with adhesive discs. The animal is generally capable of 



