Nucras. 26 



Head small, considerably broader than deep, 1* to If times as long 

 as broad, its length 4 to 4| times in length to vent ; snout obtuse. 

 Pileus 2 to 2i times as long as broad. Body feebly depressed. Hind 

 limb reaching the elbow, the axil, or the shoulder ; foot considerably 

 longer than the head ; digits slender, feebly compressed. Tail flat- 

 tened and widened at the base in males, nearly 2 to 2f times as long 

 as head and body. 



Nasals forming a short suture behind the rostral ; frontonasal 

 broader than long, broader than the internarial space ; prefrontals 

 forming a short suture ; frontal as long as or a little longer than its 

 distance from the end of the snout, 1|- to 2 times as long as broad, 

 narrower, behind, than the supraoculars ; frontoparietals much shorter 

 than the frontal, or than their distance from tlie posterior border of 

 the pileus ; parietals \\ to 1-| times as long as broad, outer border 

 sometimes emarginate for the accommodation of the anterior upper 

 temporal ; interparietal narrow, 2^ to 4 times as long as broad ; occi- 

 pital very short, sometimes broader than the interparietal. Four 

 supraoculars, first and fourth small and sometimes divided into two, 

 first extensively in contact with the frontal ; 7 or 8 superciliaries ; 2 

 to 7 small scales between the supraoculars and the superciliaries. Two 

 superposed postnasals, rarely one * ; anterior loreal |- to f times as long 

 as second ; 4 upper labials anterior to the subocular, which is a little 

 narrower beneath than above ; an elongate anterior upper temporal, 

 often in contact with the fourth supraocular, f followed by 1 or 2 

 smaller shields ; temple covered with small hexagonal or granular 

 scales, which are about as large as the dorsals or smaller ; tympanic 

 shield roundish, often small or absent. 



Parietal foramen usually absent. Pterygoid teeth present. 



Grular scales small, juxtaposed, increasing in size and imbricate 

 towards the collar, 25 to 33 in a straight longitudinal series ; no gular 

 fold. Collar even-edged, composed of 8 to 13 plates. 



Scales on body roundish or oval-hexagonal, smooth, 40 to 60 across 

 the middle of the body, 2 and 3 on the side corresponding to a ventral 

 plate. Ventral plates in 6 or 8 longitudinal series, those of the second 

 series from the median line the broadest, and 25 to 34 transverse 

 series. Preanal region covered with several irregular shields, or with 

 two large shiel.ds one in front of the other. 



* Types of L. tasniolata. Also in a young from Clanwilliam which, in its 

 markings, agrees with the typical L, tessellata. 



t Not in contact in five specimens : one of the types of L. tssniolaia, two of 

 the types of L. livida, male from Deelfontein and female from Little Namaqua- 

 land. 



