168 
MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 
and frontal. Three snpraoculars and five or six supraciliaries. Frontal as long 
as broad, almost as long as its distance from the end of the snout ; pre-frontals 
small. Fronto-parietals distinct from the interparietal ; parietals bordered by 
enlarged nuchals. Eye small ; lower eyelid with a transparent disk. 8ix upper labials, 
fourth below eye. Ear-opening very tiny, scarcely discernible. Eighteen scales 
around the body, dorsals largest ; preanals enlarged. 
Fore limbs entirely absent, site indicated by a slight depression with a rosei:te 
of smaller scales. Hind limbs monodactyl, styliform ; length almost *equal to diameter 
of body ; relatively longer in young specimens. 
Colour (spirits) : upper surface Ridgway’s drab gray ; scales mostly bordered 
with darker markings. On the back these dark spots form five almost continuous 
longitudinal lines. The scales on the sides, throat and lower surfaces are prettily 
marked with dark spots. 
Described from three specimens, the largest of which is 144 mm. (tail partly 
regenerated) ; head and body 90. This specimen is selected as holotype, Reg. No 
J. 6180. 
These elongated skinks w'ere sent in from Retro Station, Capeila, central Queens- 
land, by Mrs. P. C. Allan, who has presented many interesting specimens to the 
Queensland Museum, and after whom the new species is named. 
Rhodona allanae is undoubtedly allied to R. wilkinsi from Torrens Creek, 
northern Queensland, described by Mr. H. W. Parker in 1926.® It is readily 
distinguished, however, by the monodactyl hind limb, by the presence of three labials 
in front of the eye and by the more elongated frontal. R. piciuratiis Fry from Boulder, 
West Australia, is another allied species. Prom such species as Rhodona bipes and 
miopus it is easily separated by the distinct fronto-parietals, apart from other 
characters. In the evolution of these species there are interesting illustrations of 
variation and of convergence. Taking Dollo's ‘‘ Law of the Irreversibility of 
Evolution as substantially correct, one w'ould expect to find greater variation in 
species with several digits than in monodactyl skinks. R. allanae seems one of the 
most specialised and is obviously adapted to subterranean life. 
Parker, H. W. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (8), Vol. 17, 1926, p. 667. 
10 Fry, D. B. Rec. W. A. Miis., Vol. I, p. 187, 1914. 
David Whyte, Government Printer. Brisbane. 
