166 LIZARDS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



least 360 millimeters. When disturbed these skinks readily take 

 refuge in holes in the ground; hence they are difficult to 

 capture. They are common about the base of Mariveles in Ba- 

 taan. Vogt * has reported a specimen of this species from 

 Dutch New Guinea. De Rooij f has expressed a doubt as to 

 its correct identification. Undoubtedly the differences recorded 

 between the typical 0. cumingii Gray and Vogt's specimen war- 

 rant the making of a new species for the reception of the latter. 

 The type of 0. cumingii was discovered in the Philippines 

 by H. Cuming, 1832-1836; the exact locality is now unknown. 

 Known from Dinagat, Mindanao, Mindoro, and Bataah, Luzon. 



Genus SPHENOMORPHTJS Fitzinger 



Sphenomorphus Fitzinger, Syst. Kept. (1843) 23; Stejneger, Bull. 



U. S. Nat. Mus. 58 (1907) 216. 

 Hinulia Gray, Cat. Liz. (1845) 74. 

 Lygosoma (section Hinulia) Boulenger, Cat. Liz. Brit. Mus. 3 (1887) 



212. 



Legs well developed, pentadactyl. Lower eyelid scaly. Tym- 

 panum distinct. No supranasals ; the frontoparietal is single or 

 divided. The length of hind leg usually exceeds the distance 

 between center of eye and foreleg. 



For a proper understanding of the Philippine skinks I prefer 

 to recognize Boulenger's genus Lygosoma as a supergenus, and 

 his various sections of the genus as genera. It is true that there 

 is no strong dividing line between certain of these genera as, 

 for instance, Boulenguer J states that Lygosoma decipiens 

 Boulenger and Lygosoma luzonense Boulenger connect sections 

 Hinulia and Homolepida, but that both should be referred to the 

 former. The distinction between Siaphos and Leiolopisma is 

 rather slight, and Siaphos kempi Taiylor might easily be re- 

 garded as a Leiolopisma, Stejneger § has regarded Otosaurus 

 Gray as belonging to the genus Sphenomorphus Fitzinger. I 

 do not follow him in this. A careful study of Otosaurus 

 cumingii Gray, the type of the genus, causes me to regard it as 

 belonging to a separate genus. The presence of a large, well- 

 defined supranasal does, I believe, separate it from Spheno- 

 morphus. 



The genus as here considered has sixteen known representa- 

 tives in the Philippine fauna, besides three forms regarded as sub- 



* Vogt, Sitz. Ges. Naturf. Fr. (1911) 417; (1912) 365. 

 t De Rooij, Kept. Indo-Aust. Arch. 1 (1915) 166. 

 $Proc. Zool. Soc. London (1894) 734. 

 §BulI. U. S. Nat. Mus. 58 (1907) 216. 



