THE BAHAMA ISLANDS 343 



Of these Hyla septenirionalis and Splunrodactylus decoratus seem equally 

 close to Cuba and Haiti. 8. corticolus appears to lean more to Haiti. Leio- 

 cephcdus loxogrammus and Anolis ordinatus are of decidedly Cuban relation- 

 ship. Cyclura rileyi is uncertain, but probably closer to Cuba than to Haiti. 

 Finally Leptotyphlops alhifrons is a South American species which has not 

 hitherto been found in the Greater Antilles, the Virgin Islands or any other 

 island in the Bahamas. There would be nothing surprising, however, if it 

 were found later in all these islands, especially in Haiti. 



As will be seen, nothing definite can be concluded from the above. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



The first and most obvious result of the above attempt to analyze the 

 herpetological fauna of the Bahamas is the conviction that the archipelago is 

 as yet far too imperfectly explored, and that exhaustive collections from many 

 islands which have not yet been visited as well as from those already super- 

 ficially examined, are necessary before a correct picture of their reptile world 

 can be drawn. 



It may be well to summarize, however, the preliminary conclusions at 

 which we have arrived : 



1. The herpetological fauna of the Bahamas is derived directly from the 

 nearest islands of the Greater Antilles. 



2. The islands situated on the great bank which is connected with Cuba 

 by the 500-fathom line are directly and closely allied herpetologically to the 

 latter island. 



3. Great Inagua and Turks Islands show similarly strong.relationships to 

 the island of Haiti. 



4. There is no direct connection between the herpetological fauna of the 

 Bahamas and Florida. 



5. The isolation of the various species on the separate islands has been 

 sufficiently complete and protracted to have resulted in a considerable amount 

 of specialization. 



