Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia Volume II Part 50

99. Hyla lesueurii, Dumeril and Bibron Erp. Gen. 8 595. H. oculata, Peron ma.n.u.script.

Inhabits New Holland, Port Jackson.

100. Hyla ewingii, Dumeril and Bibron Erp. Gen. 8 597.

Inhabits Van Diemen's Land.

101. Hyla citropa, Peron and Lesueur. Dumeril and Bibron Erp. Gen. 8 600.

Dendrohyas citropa, Tschudi, 75.

Inhabits New Holland, Port Jackson.

102. Hyla aurea.

Rana aurea, Lesson Voyage Coq. t. 7 f. 2.

Hyla jacksoniensis, Dumeril and Bibron Erp. Gen. 8 602.

Ranoidea jacksoniensis, Tschudi.

Inhabits New Holland, Port Jackson.

103. Hyla adelaidensis, t. 8 f. 2. Gray Annals of Natural History 1841.

Inhabits Western Australia.

104. Hyla bioculata, t. 8 f. 1. Gray Annals of Natural History 1841.

Inhabits Western Australia.

105. Uperoleja marmorata, Gray Annals of Natural History 1841.

Inhabits Western Australia.

Family BUFONIDAE.

106. Phreniscus australis, Dumeril and Bibron Erp. Gen. 8 725.

Bombinator australis, Gray Proceedings of the Zoological Society.

Inhabits New Holland.

107. Breviceps gouldii; Gray Annals of Natural History 1841.

Breviceps heliogabali, Gray, tab. 1 f. 1.

Inhabits Western Australia.

I have been induced to add to the foregoing list the following observations on the more obscure and hitherto unknown genera and species.

RONIA, Gray. Head rather shelving, s.h.i.+elded with one transverse frontal and two large vertebral plates, the hinder largest; the rostral plates large, with two unequal superciliary plates. The nasal plate triangular, interposed between the rostral plate and the frontal ones, with the nostrils in its centre; loreal plates two, square; l.a.b.i.al plates large; ears none, only a very indistinct sunk dot in their place. Body cylindrical; tail conical, tapering. Scales smooth, ovate, imbricate, those of the belly 6-sided. The front limbs very small, rudimentary, undivided; the hinder limbs moderately developed, ending in two very unequal toes, with distinct claws.

35. Ronia catenulata, Gray, t. 4 f. 1.

Back grey, with eight series of small black dots, one dot on the centre of each scale; cheeks black speckled; sides and beneath whitish.

Body 3 1/2, tail 2 1/2 inches.

Inhabits Western Australia. Mr. J. Gould.

The scales under the tail are rather larger, and the spots on the tail are also rather larger than those on the back.

38. Lialis burtonii, t. 3 f. 1. Gray Proceedings of the Zoological Society 1834 134. Dumeril and Bibron H. R. 831.

Pale brown, back with three longitudinal brown streaks, each occupying half of two series of scales; the centre streak divided into two over the nape and head, uniting together again over the tip of the nose.

Inhabits Western Australia. J. Gould.

Family Pygopidae.

Head short, with two or three pairs of narrow frontal s.h.i.+elds, similar to, and behind the nasal s.h.i.+eld, with two odd large vertebral s.h.i.+elds; nostrils oblong, in the suture between the outer angle of the nasal s.h.i.+eld and the front loreal s.h.i.+elds; ears distinct, tympanum sunk; eyes surrounded with a series of scales; belly with two or four series of broad 6-sided ventral s.h.i.+elds; tail with three series of broader s.h.i.+elds, the central the broadest; limbs two, rudimentary, undivided, scaly, on the side of the vent; throat covered with small scales; lower l.a.b.i.al plates large.

Pygopus. The scales of the back keeled, with a series of numerous praea.n.a.l pores; pupil round; the hinder limbs elongate.

Delma. The scales smooth; praea.n.a.l pores none; pupil elliptical, erect; hinder limbs short.

42. Soridia lineata, t. 3, f. 2.

M. Bibron in the work quoted observes: La Soridia lineata de M. Gray n'est pas different d'une espece de Scincoiden du Cap que nous avons vue dans la collection de M. Smith a Chatham et de laquelle nous avions pris une description qui s'est malheureus.e.m.e.nt egaree. Page 787. And again: Nous croyons que c'est par erreur que M. Gray a indique cette espece comme provenant de la Nouvelle Hollande, nous pensons plutot qu'elle est originaire du Cap, et la meme que celle dont nous parlions tout a l'heure ou le Scincoidien que d'accord avec le Dr. Smith nous nous proposions d'appeller Praepeditus lineatus. Page 788.

I do not know what Dr. Smith's animal may be, but the account of Praepeditus, given by M. Bibron, is only a translation of my description of Soridia! It is not probable that this animal should come both from Australia and the Cape. It is certainly from New Holland.

44. APRASIA.

The head small, s.h.i.+elded; muzzle rounded, rather produced, with two pairs of large frontal s.h.i.+elds, covering the cheeks, a large six-sided elongated vertebral s.h.i.+eld, and a pair of small superciliar s.h.i.+elds; rostral and l.a.b.i.al s.h.i.+elds large, few; the nostrils small, in the sutures between the tip of the front upper l.a.b.i.al, and the anterior frontal plates; eyes circular, edged with a series of small scales; pupil round; ears none; body and tail cylindrical, tapering, covered with hexangular scales, the ventral s.h.i.+elds rather broader; limbs none.

By some mistake the slip containing the description of this genus in my synopsis of the slender-tongued Saurians got into the wrong place with the Tiliquae instead of being near Anguis.

56. Grammatophora muricata.

The young animals have a series of small spines on each side of the base of the tail, and a series of spots on each side of the back.

Mr. Gould has brought home two very distinct local varieties.

Var. 1 diemenensis. Young dark-coloured, with vermiculated marks on the chin, chest, and abdomen. The adult dark, beneath gray, varied with black spots placed in irregular lines.

Inhabits Van Diemen's Land.

Var. 2 adelaidensis. Young pale above and beneath, with three broad diverging black lines on the chin, leaving an oblong spot in the centre of the throat, with a broad streak on the chest separated into three lines on the abdomen, which unite together again on the pubis. The adult gray, with a few spots beneath.

58. Grammatophora decresii, Dumeril and Bibron, Erp. Gen. 4 472. ?

Tail conical, with nearly regular scales, the base rather swollen, without any series of spines on the side; the nape and back with a series of rather larger, low, compressed scales; back with small sub-equal scales, and a few larger ones in cross series; side of the head near the ears and side of neck with two or three ridges crowned with short conical spines. In spirits black, yellow spotted and varied, beneath gray, vermiculated with blackish; tail black-ringed.

Inhabits Western Australia.

So much smaller than G. muricata that I might have considered them as young animals if one of them had not had the body filled with well-formed eggs; and the tail is much shorter in comparison than even in the young of that species.

They agree in most points with the description given by Messieurs Dumeril and Bibron, but not in the colour and in the size of the tail. The specimens in our collection greatly differ in their colour, but are all very different from any other species.

59. Grammatophora cristata. Nape with a crest of distinct, rather short, curved, compressed, spinose scales; back and tail with a series of compressed keeled scales, forming a slight keel; occiput with separate short strong conical spines: sides of the neck and back with folds crowned with series of short compressed scales; base of the tail with some scattered larger scales. In spirits, dull olive; crown black with large white spots, beneath black; middle of the belly, and undersides of the base of the tail white; tail with black rings at the end; feet whitish.