23 



borders of the plates project and show evidences, under a hand- 

 lens, of tridentation and swelling. The scales of the side of the 

 digit in no way differ from the other dorsal scales, and conse- 

 quently there is no true denticulation of the digits, but, of course, 

 when seen in profile, the lateral scales project the one over the 

 other. Sunopus has thus a simpler form of digit than Steno- 

 dactylus; and as other differences manifest themselves in the 

 form and scaly covering of the body, and in the shape of the tail, 

 in both of which respects it resembles Q-ymnodactyJus rather than 

 Stenodaetylus, it would seem to merit generic rank between these 

 two genera, as held by Blauford and supported by Strauch. 



Peisturus etjpesteis, Blanford. 



Pristurus rupestris, Blanford, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (4) 

 xiii. 1874, p. 454 ; East. Persia, vol. ii. Zool. & Qe il. (1876), 

 p. 350, pi. xxiii. figs. 1, la; Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1881, p. 465 : 

 Murray, Vert. Zool. Sind, 1884, p. 365, pi. fig. 1 ; Boulenger, 

 Cat. Liz. B. M. i. 1885, p. 53. 



4 cJ , 3 ? , and 2 juv. 



Head rather short and moderately high ; snout variable, more 

 pointed in some (Socotran examples) than in others (Maskat, and 

 Hadramut Expedition), exceeding the interval between the 

 posterior border of the eye and hinder margin of the ear-opening, 

 and equalling the posterior orbital interspace, or nearly so ; fore- 

 head flat, not concave ; eye moderately large ; nostril defined by 

 the rostral and two or three nasals, the uppermost the largest ; 

 rostral large, cleft above, twice as broad as high ; seven or eight 

 upper labials ; mental large, triangular, and broader than the 

 rostral; five to six lower labials; no chin-shields, but a few 

 scattered enlarged granules behind the mental and labials ; ear 

 situated below the level of the gape, small, oval in outline, and 

 placed obliquely. Limbs long ; the fore limb reaches the end of 

 the snout, and, when laid backwards, touches the groin, or falls 

 short of it ; the hind limb reaches the ear. Tail laterally com- 

 pressed, longer than the body and head, with a low dorsal crest 

 of flat spines not extending on to the back, the mesial line of the 

 under surface having no crest, but a line of enlarged projecting 

 scales. In the female, the dorsal ciest is very rudimentary. 

 Body covered with minute granules, largest on the upper surface 

 of the snout, especially in Socotran specimens. Scales on the 

 sides of the tail larger than the body-granules, and arranged 



