Philochortus. 3 



1. PHILOCHOETUS SPINALIS. 



Laeerta spinalis, Peters, Mon. Berl. Ac. 1874, p. 369, pi. — , fig. 2. 



Latastia spinalis, Bouleng. Cat. Liz. iii, p. 57 (1887) ; Stejneg. 

 Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. xvi, 1894, p. 717; Bouleng. Ann. Mus. G-enova 

 (2) xvi, 1896, p. 551 ; Tornier, Zool. Jahrb., Syst. xxii, 1905, p. 375; 

 O. Neumann, t.c, p. 395. 



Philochortus spinalis, Bouleng. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1917, p. 146, pi. i, 

 figs. 1, 2. 



Head and body feebly depressed. Head 1|- to 1| times as long as 

 broad, its depth equal to the distance between the anterior corner of 

 the eye and the tympanum, its length 4 to 4^ times in length to vent ; 

 snout obtusely pointed, as long as postocular part of head, vrith 

 obtuse canthus. Pileus twice as long as broad. Neck as broad as 

 the head or a little narrower. Hind limb reaching the shoulder or 

 between the shoulder and the ear in males, the axil or the shoulder in 

 females ; foot 1^ to If times as long as hand ; toes slender, feebly 

 compressed. Tail 2 to 2j times as long as head and body. 



Nostril pierced between 3 shields ; nasals forming a suture behind 

 the rostral, the suture ^ to | the length of the frontonasal, which is 

 much broader than long and broader than the internarial space ; pre- 

 frontals forming a short median suture ; frontal as long as its distance 

 from the end of the snout, 1| to If times as long as broad, angular in 

 front, much narrower behind, not or but very feebly grooved in front ; 

 parietals IJ to 1^ times as long as broad, usually meeting on the 

 median line, the interparietal being small and separated from the 

 occipital, or often altogether absent * ; occipital small,t rarely in 

 contact with the interparietal. J Two large subequal supraoculars, 

 preceded and followed by a small one (first and fourth) often broken 

 up into two or more small shields or granules, the first in contact 

 with the frontal ; 6 or 7 superciliaries, separated from the supraoculars 

 by a series of granules. Lower eyelid opaque or somewhat translucid, 

 with feebly enlarged scales in the middle, some of which are deeper 

 than the others. Eostral not entering the nostril ; a single postnasal ; 

 anterior loreal shorter than the second§ ; 4, rarely 5, upper labials 

 anterior to the subocular, which is usually narrower beneath than 



* Absent in the type specimen and in most of the 59 specimens from Ghinda 

 examined by me. I was wrong in thinking the absence of this shield in the 

 type specimen to be an individual anomaly. 



t Divided into 2 in the type specimen. 



J In 2 female specimens from Eugdeia Sogheira in the Genoa Museum. 



§ Absent in the type specimen. 



