Eliiiiint in thv Fauna nf India. 2I)."J 



Mr. WallaCH', This I grant, with the exception ot' EuhUpharia^ 

 whieh is not t'oujid outsi(h' the Indian provinee in the ( )iiental 

 rei^ion, nor represented hy any allied t'orni, whilst it appears 

 very probahle that it is allied to the West-AtVican Pxilodar- 

 tf//iiSj as Gray suggested. Neither Pentadacti/liis, Gecko^ nor 

 Draco is found anywliere in the Indian province at all. By 

 Kum('C(s 1 pri'sunic the genus as enlarged by Giinthcr is 

 meant ; it' so, it is the oidy genus ot" the tivc which can be 

 cjiioted as in any way supporting Mr. Wallace's view. It is 

 represented in the Indian jirovincc by one species of Mocoa 

 antl two of JWojin * ; now in Gray's ' Catalogue of Lizards in 

 the British Museum' I find a Mocoa quoted from West Africa, 

 and a I'wpa from Arabia. 



The commonest and most characteristic Indian genera of 

 Laeertilia andUphidia are the following: — Varamis^ Cahrttaj 

 OphtopSj Enpi'i'jwsy If(')iu'dacf///ns, Sitana, CaloteSy Charasiaj 

 ('/lanHrho^ Typldops^ Pfi/as^ Zainenift^ Tropidonotiis^ Ltjcodorij 

 Ertj.r, ^oja, Bungarus, Daboia, and Echis. Of these the only 

 characteristically Oriental genera are Calotes, Li/codon, Bun- 

 fjarus'^ whilst Cahrita (allied to Eremi'as), Charasia (very near 

 to SteUio), C/iavufdeo, Eryx^ and Echis have distinct Ethio- 

 pian atiinities, and Sitana is restricted to India. The fol- 

 lowing families are Ethiopian and Indian, but not Malayan — 

 Cham(vleontidie (1 species) and Erycidcp^ (2 species). The 

 following are Indian and Malayan but not Ethiopian — Oligo- 

 duntidiP, represented by one species in the typical Indian sub- 

 provinces, and Crotah'(hp, which are not kiiown to occur in 

 them at all. 



It is true that of the Amphibia not a single family exhibits 

 special Ethioj)ian affinities ; but the genus Fyxiceji/iahis does 

 so most unmistakably. This genus has not been found east 

 of the Bay of Bengal. 



Before concluding these few remarks, there is a point to 

 which I thiidv it well to call attention, as it is one which has 

 largely intlueneed me in insisting on the African affinities of 

 the Indian fauna. This is the evidence that in Northern and 

 Central India the fauna in the later Tertiary times was more 

 allied to that of Africa at present than it now is. This is 

 shown by the presence of Hippopotamus, Camclopardalisj 

 Lo.rodon, and a numl)er of antilopinc forms in the Pliocene 



* I have not met with this genus in either the Deccan or the Gangetic 

 puhpruviuce. 



t The statement that £ri/x and Gongylophis occur in Sikkim has been 

 shown to bo an error. It depends on the l("K?alitios affixed to the specimens 

 collected bv the Messrs. v. Schlnpintweit, manv of whose localities are 

 untrustworthy. See P. A. S. Ji. 1870, p. 77 ; X. A. S. R 1)571. p. 421. 



Ann.d-Mng. N. Hist. ^e.rA. Fo/. xviii. 20 



