REPTILES 265 



restricted to the region is that of the scale-footed Pygopodidce, among which 

 Pygopus lepiclopus, with a coppery-grey colour and a length of about 2 feet, 

 ranges all over Australia. In this snake-like reptile the limbs are reduced to scaly 

 flaps, but in the allied Australian Lialis burtoni they form strips of such small 

 size as to be almost invisible. The family is not improbably represented in 

 New Guinea as well as in Australia. 



In Australia the place of the Lacerticlce is taken by lizards of the family 

 Agamidce, characterised by the teeth being situated on the summits of the jaws. 

 Among these it must suffice to mention three species, two of which severally 

 represent a genus by themselves. The first of these is the brilliantly coloured 

 frilled lizard (Chlamydosaurus Jcingi), a species of between 2 and 3 feet in length, 

 provided with a large membranous frill or collar round the neck, which, under 

 the influence of irritation or excitement, can be expanded so as to surround the 

 neck like a halo. On the other hand, when desirous of escaping from danger, this 

 strange lizard folds up its frill like an umbrella, assumes an upright posture, and 

 scuds across the sand as fast as its legs can carry it. "Whenever the frill is 

 expanded the mouth is at the same time opened to its full extent, thereby adding 

 to the reptile's terrifying appearance, so far at least as predacious birds and other 

 enemies apart from man are concerned. On the running habit, which has been 

 erroneously asserted to be peculiar to this species, although it is possessed in a 

 minor degree by certain other lizards, has been based the utterly mistaken idea 

 that the frilled lizard is related to the gigantic extinct dinosaurs of the Oolitic 

 period. The species was discovered on the bough of a tree by a botanical 

 assistant attached to the expedition under the command of Captain P. P. King 

 which surveyed the coast of Western Australia from 1818 to 1822, and it ought 

 therefore to have been named in his honour instead of after the commander. 



Equally noteworthy and strange, although in quite a different way, is the 

 spiny Moloch lizard (Moloch horridus), which is a depressed reptile of about 

 8 inches in length, completely protected from attack on the part of most enemies 

 by the armour of stout horny spines covering head, body, and tail. In general 

 appearance the moloch, which, like the frilled lizard, is the sole representative of 

 its genus, presents a curious superficial resemblance to the so-called horned toads 

 of America (Phrynosoma), belonging to the iguana family, and referred to in an 

 earlier chapter. The moloch, despite its formidable appearance, seems to be a 

 perfectly harmless reptile, feeding on ants, and being completely terrestrial in its 

 habits, as indeed is sufficiently indicated by its depressed form of body. The pro- 

 tective power of its spines is increased by the power of changing the colour of its 

 skin possessed by the moloch, this being modified according to the nature of its 

 surroundings. Frequently these lizards may be seen to change the normal yellowish 

 or dark brown of their skin to dark green when they quit sandy ground for green 

 herbage, or vice versa. 



The third representative of the Agamidce which can be mentioned here is the 

 bearded lizard (Amphibolurus barbatus), locally known as the Jew lizard. It is 

 a member of a genus containing about thirteen other species, all of which are 

 furnished with a transverse fold of skin on the throat. In the bearded lizard, if 

 not in its relatives, this fold is capable of inflation so as to form a kind of frill on 



