Ortler SQUAMATA 



The order Squamata is divided into three suborders as follows : 



1. Rhiptoglossi, the trxie chameleons. 



2. Sauria, the lizards. 



3. Serpentes, the snakes. 



No member of the first suborder is found in the Philippines. 



Suborder SAURIA 



The living Sauria are divided into numerous families, the actual 

 number varying with different authors. In the Philippines five 

 well-defined families are represented. They are characterized 

 as follows: 



Family I. Gekkonid^. — ^Tongue smooth or with villose papillae; no 

 postorbital or postfrontosquamosal arches; clavicle dilated proxi- 

 mally; vertebrae amphicoelian ; parietal bones distinct. 



Family II. Agamid^. — Tongue smooth or with villose papillae; clavicle 

 not dilated proximally; postorbital and postfrontosquamosal arches 

 present; supratemporal fossa not roofed over by bone; tongue 

 thick; dentition acrodont. 



Family III. Varanid^. — Tongue elongate, forked at end, sheathed pos- 

 teriorly; postorbital arch incomplete; postfrontosquamosal arch 

 present; supratemporal fossa not roofed over; nasal bone single. 



Family IV. Scincid^. — Tongue covered with imbricate scalelike papil- 

 Ise; dentition pleurodont; arches present; premaxillary double; 

 body with osteodermal plates. 



Family V. Dibamid^. — Tongue covered with curved lamellae or plicae; 

 no interorbital septum; no arches; no osteodermal plates. 



GEKKONID^ 



Gekkonidas Stejneger, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. 58 (1907) 164. 



Eleven genera of geckos are known from the Philippines. 

 Many of the species are domestic and are carried from place to 

 place through the agency of man. The species that are gene- 

 rally found in human habitations are Hemidactylus frenatus, H. 

 luzonensis, H. garnotii, Peropus mutilatus, Cosymbotus platy- 

 urus, Gekko gecko, and G. monarchus. The first five are the 

 smaller species, and are known variously as talo-to (Leyte Vi- 

 sayan), alo-ti-it (Ilocano), hutiki (Tagalog), sucsitc (Manobo), 



41 



