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Show 1899.] REPTILES OF THE MALAY PENINSULA ANB SIAM. 601 appeared giving a list of the Reptiles of Siam1, most of our knowledge of which is from the collections made by M . Mouhot forty years ago; so we have to turn to that invaluable work, Mr. Boulenger s ' Catalogue of the Reptiles ' in the British Museum to get an idea of our present knowledge of the herpetological fauna of the country, and in the seven volumes we find 85 species mentioned, to which 21 more can now be added, viz., Batagur sp. inc., Ghelone mydas, Ohelone imbricata, Thalassochelys caretta, Pelochelys cantoris, Phyl-lodactylus siamensis, Gehyra mutilata, Draco volans, Calotes micro-lepis, Calotes emma, Lygosoma maculatum, Lygosoma melanostictum, Lygosoma bowringii, Typhlops albiceps, Typhlops fioweri, Acrochordus javaniens, Coluber radiatus, Dipsadomorphus dendrophilus, Hydrophis obscurus, Enhydrishardwickii,and Doliophis bivirgatus: thus making a total of 106 species. Only one genus, Prymnomiodon, is peculiar to Siam, and 13 species, viz., Phgllodactylus siamensis, Acanthosaura copra, Acan-thosaura coronata, Physignathus mentager, Mabuia longicaudata, Typhlops siamensis, Typhlops schnelderi, Typhlops albiceps, Typhlops fioweri, Prymnomiodon chalceus, Lycodon laoensis, Hypsirhina jagorii, and Arnblycephalus margaritophorus. Boundary.-It is impossible to divide tbe fauna of Siam from that of the Malay Peninsula, as the northern part of the Malay Peninsula forms what is known as " Lower Siam." Zoologically so little is known of this tract of country that we cannot sav where the fauna of Siam (i. e. the neighbourhood of Bangkok and the Menam Valley) stops and that of British Malaya commences, or whether the two gradually merge into each other, as seems probable. Imperfection of present knowledge.-Although Giinther in 1864 (Reptiles Brit. Ind. p. ix) wrote of the Malayan Peninsula and Siam, " this belt of land is well explored," and Stoliczka in 1873 (Journal Asiatic Soc. Bengal, vol. xiii. ii. p. 112) wrote : " The present list, in connection with that of Drs. Cantor, Gray, and Giinther, and my own published iu 1870, may be considered as fairly completing the number of reptiles and amphibians inhabiting Penang and the neighbouring Wellesley Province," I venture to think that a very great deal remains to be done in this part of the world ; no one has yet collected over the greater part of the area of either the Malay Peninsula or Siam, and particularly the fauna of the many mountain-ranges requires investigation. Tbe great variety of Tortoises, 23 species, inhabiting this region is remarkable, and the curious local distribution of species with practically similar habits, when fully worked out, might give very interesting results. The natural distribution of the Malayan Geckoes it is almost too late to be able to trace: certain species apparently are yearly extending their area, unconsciously taking advantage of and following the march of civilization, while other species, less 1 Giinther, " On the Reptiles of Siam," P. Z. S. I860, pp. 113-117. |