Annals of the Transvaal Museum. 
65 
As we have already mentioned, a number of genera comprised in the 
peculiar fauna have relationships in Madagascar, and indeed this fauna as a 
whole has a very strong affinity with the whole Madagascar fauna. 
The lacertilia of Madagascar are composed of the following families : 
Geckoes, Skinks, Chamaeleons, Gerrhosauridae (Zonuridae probably), and a 
few Iguanidae, whilst the other families Agamidae, Varanidae, Lacertidae, 
Anguidae, and Amphisbaenidae are quite absent; leaving out of consideration 
the Iguanidae — the occurrence of which in Madagascar has not yet been 
satisfactorily explained — the Madagascar lizard fauna shows complete 
identity in its families and identity or close relationship in many of the 
genera with the peculiar fauna of South Africa, and the families which are 
lacking to Madagascar are those which constitute what I have termed the 
Ethiopian fauna of South Africa. 
It should be mentioned, however, that the identity of the faunas does 
not extend to the species, for probably there is not a single species of 
lizard common to Madagascar and South Africa, and further, Madagascar 
has a few peculiar genera which have no allies in South Africa. 
Again, this peculiar fauna is not strictly limited on the north by the 
Zambesi and Cunene Rivers, and as a matter of fact it is to be found tc 
some extent right up to the equator. In Tornier’s list of the lizards of 
German East Africa we find the following representatives of this fauna : — 
Geckonidae : Pachydactylus, 2 sp. ; Platypholis, 1 sp. ; Diplodactylus, 
1 sp. 
Zonuridae : Zonurus, 2 sp. ; Chamaesaura, 1 sp. 
Gerrhosauridae : Gerrhosaurus, 1 sp. 
Scincidae : Sepsina, 1 sp. ; Melanoseps, 1 sp. 
And in Angola, according to Bocage, there are : — 
Geckonidae : Pachydactylus, 2 sp. ; Rhoptropus, 1 sp. ♦ 
Zonuridae : Zonurus, 2 sp. ; Chamaesaura, 1 sp. 
Gerrhosauridae : Gerrhosaurus, 2 sp. ; Tetradactylus, 1 sp. ; Cordylo- 
saurus, 1 sp. 
Scincidae : Sepsina, 3 sp. : Typhlacontias, 1 sp., but with very few 
exceptions — the genera Lygodactylus, Homopholis, and Gerrhosaurus — this 
fauna does not pass north of the Equator. 
The dual nature of the South African fauna and the general relation- 
ship of the one portion with that of Madagascar is no doubt to be explained 
by the following old theory : Madagascar, according to most authorities, 
was united with Southern Africa up to midtertiary times (Mocquard and 
others consider that the separation occurred in the secondary period) this 
large area constituting a continental island (see “ Wallace’s Island Life ”), 
and there was a common fauna which gave rise in South Africa to the 
peculiar endemic fauna of the present day. Then came the separation off of 
Madagascar, and subsequently the continent of Africa assumed its present 
shape and South Africa was invaded by a new assembly of lizards, Lacertidae. 
Agamidae, etc., which came from Europe and Asia via North Africa* It is 
not possible for me to deal with the problem of the primary origin of the 
peculiar fauna of South Africa and of Madagascar, for the affinities of such 
characteristic families as the Gerrhosauridae and the Zonuridae provide no 
very definite clue, nor is there any palaeontological evidence ; but as there 
seems to be no indication that this is derived from a European or Asiatic 
source, it may perhaps be regarded as the remains of a former southern 
hemisphere fauna, for it has some relationship (Scincidae, Geckonidae) with 
Ceylon, Southern India, and Australia (cp. distribution and relationship of 
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