100 THE STORY OF REPTILE LIFE. 



Travellers navigating the narrow and un- 

 frequented creeks in the mosquito country run 

 some considerable danger of meeting sudden 

 death from these plunges, inasmuch as Dr 

 Gadow assures us, on the authority of Napier 

 Bell, that the voyager in this region "often 

 encounters quite a shower of falling Iguanas, 

 and runs some risk of getting his neck broken." 

 This will readily be believed when it is known that 

 full-grown specimens may measure as much as six 

 feet long, and attain a weight of 30 Ibs. 



Arboreal and aquatic, these creatures are also 

 burrowers, digging deep holes in the sloping sides 

 of banks; yet neither climbing, swimming, nor 

 digging have involved any special structural 

 modifications. Many lizards not only climb with 

 remarkable ease and rapidity, but are also expert 

 leapers. The Carolina A.nolis (Anolis Carolinensis), 

 and the Green Gecko (Phelesuma) for example, 

 leap from leaf to leaf like tree frogs. It will be re- 

 membered that another of the Geckos (Ptijchozcwm 

 hornalocephalum), was described, in the early part 

 of this chapter, as enjoying the reputation of leap- 

 ing powers of a high order, mainly, it would 

 seem, on account of the presence of large folds 

 of skin on each side of the body, which were 

 regarded as serving the purpose of a parachute, 

 affording the necessary support when in mid-air. 

 On the whole, however, these folds appear rather 

 to serve as masks, enabling the creature more 

 effectively to harmonise with its surroundings. 



Only in one small group amongst the Eeptilia 

 have structural modifications, which unquestion- 

 ably subserve the practice of leaping, taken place, 





