PLATYDACTYLUS MURALIS. 171 



Mediterranean, but is confined to the northern portion 

 of that continent. 



Family GECKOTIDjE. 



The body and head are flattened, especially the latter ; 

 the belly is near the ground, enlarged in the middle ; the 

 claws are short, of nearly equal length, separate, robust, 

 generally enlarged for a greater or less extent, and with 

 regular folds of the skin beneath, enabling them to climb 

 walls, and even to creep along a ceiling. There are no 

 teeth on the palate ; the tongue is short, fleshy, not ex- 

 tensile ; the tail is marked by circular folds, never very 

 long ; the skin above is chagrined with very small gra- 

 nular scales, with large tubercles often dispersed among 

 them ; beneath, the scales are flattened and imbricated ; 

 the eyes are very large ; the eyelids very short and with- 

 drawn entirely between the eye and the orbit, giving the 

 animal a peculiar appearance. 



Genus PLATYDACTYLUS. 



The toes are widened throughout their length, and fur- 

 nished beneath with transverse, imbricated scales. 



Platydaotylus muralis. 



Platy&actylus muralis, Dum. et Bib. vol. iii. p. 319. 



Ascalabotes Mauritanicus, Schinz, Europ. Faun. vol. ii. p. 10 Buon. 



Faun. Ital. (figured). 

 Gecko des murailles, Cuviee. 



Description. — The toes of the fore-feet are nearly equal 

 in length, only the third and fourth toes of all the feet 



i 2 



