108 
VoL. L 
Thk Queensland Natu'lvlist. 
while the Echidna has only one. The former places her 
eggs in a nest at the end of thi' burrow ; the latter carries 
her egg in the ventral pouch. The egg is laid at an age 
equal to a thirty-hour chick.” 
[Note - 'I'he Chairman H. Tr.von) dwelt on the discoveries per- 
taining to the natural history of the Monntremes made subsequent to the 
•observations related bv Mr. Itenneut. and e.specially on the interest of the 
group from an anatomical ^tindpcint. -En.j 
NOTES ACCOMPANYING EXHIBITS, Etc. 
By Henry Tryon. 
(1) Leaf-Tail Lizard [Gymriodactylus). 
This peculiar lizard, of which three examples arc 
exhibited, is a member of the family of the Geckos, a very 
special group distinguished amongst other features by 
their depressed bodies, their stout build, their rough grami- 
lar glossless skin, the possession of labial scales. As the 
outcome of their nocturnal habits, the eyes are large, and, 
as in snakes, are covered with a transparent skin, that 
united with the conjunctivum, encloses them in a kind 
of capsule. To enable them to cling to the perpendicular 
and over-hanging surfaces on which their insect diet is 
procured, their well-developed toes are variously provided 
with wing-like expansions, channels, grooved pads, or 
with discs capable ot being o])ened out and closed again 
in a fan-like manner. Pads sometimes take the place 
of strong claws, tlie latter are often more or less retractile, 
occurring curved below terminal cushion-like swellings, 
[n one division of these lizards the toes are more simple, 
and are unprovided with wings, discs or pads, and arc 
hence termed Naked- loed Geckos, Gymnodactylus. 
This genus, Gymnodactylus, is evidently a very ancient 
one. ranging throughout Australia, die Eastern Archipelago, 
some of the Pacific islands {e.g., Solomon Islands), 
Asia, and the European Continent, a species occurring even 
in Argentina, G, borellii, Nikclski. 
The majority of the species of Gymnodactylus are like 
ordinary Geckos, two Australian species, however, G, 
millusii, Gray, and G. sphyrurus. Ogilby, have peculiar 
tails, that of the former being short, thick, swollen, and 
nearly as broad as the body, and the latter, although 
thick, quadrilateral and broader than long. 
More remarkable still are two species of Gymnodactylus 
that may be named Leaf-Tailed Lizards, as suggested by 
the great French naturalist, Cuvier, in the term PJiylUurus 
that he applied to one of them. 
