276 



SCOLLOP-TAILED GECKO. 



Lacerta Caudiverbera. L. cauda depresso-plana pinnatifida, pe* 



dihus palmatis. Lin. Syst. Nat. p. 359. 

 Gecko with flat pinnatifid tail and palmated feet. 

 Salamandra aquatica ex Arabia. Seb. 2. p. 109- 1. 103, f. 2, 



This curious species is described by Seba, who 

 represents it as a native of Arabia. Its total length 

 is about sixteen inches, of which the tail measures 

 something more than half. The head is large and 

 flattish, the mouth wide, the tongue broad, the 

 teeth small and numerous, the neck short, the 

 throat protuberant, the body thick, and the limbs 

 rather short than long : the fore feet are apparently 

 formed like those of the rest of the Gecko tribe ; 

 the hind feet are of a similar form, but strongly 

 palmated : the tail tapers gradually to the tip, but 

 is edged throughout its whole length with a broad 

 and deeply-scplloped fin or membrane, which gra- 

 dually widens as it approaches the tip, where it is 

 considerably broader than on the sides. The whole 

 animal is covered, except on the head, with a 

 smooth * skin of a yellow colour ; the back being 

 marked by numerous, distant, red tubercles or 

 granules, each surrounded by a circle of small 

 white scales : the thighs and middle part of the 

 tail are also spotted with similar red tubercles, but 

 not surrounded by white scales like those on the 



* By this Seba may perhaps mean a finely-scaled skin rather 

 than a naked one. 



