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Show 168 DR. A. GtTNTHER ON REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS [Feb. 4, BRONCHOCELA MARMORATA, Gray. From an examination of specimens collected by Dr. Meyer in Luzon I have no doubt that Calotes (Bronchocele) philippinus of Peters (Monatsber. Ak. Berl. 1867, p. 16) is identical with this species. Indeed one might even hesitate to separate this Philippine form from that of Celebes, B. celebensis. The principal distinctive character appears to be the pholidosis of the loreal region, which is almost granular in B. marmorata, and formed by distinct scutella in JB. celebensis. In the former I have counted from 25 to 30 longitudinal series of scales on the side of the body, in the latter from 22 to 26. LOPHURA AMBOINENSIS. There are fifteen examples of all sizes in the British Museum ; the localities where they have been obtained are Java, Amboyna, Celebes, and the Philippine Islands. I have arrived at the conclusion that no constant distinctive characters can be pointed out in specimens from different localities, and that there are not two individuals perfectly alike with regard to the development and distribution of the large scales and tubercles. As already observed by Wiegmann, the rostral crest is somewhat more developed in Philippine specimens (L. pustulata) than in those from Java and Amboyna, and is visible even in very young specimens; but so slight a difference cannot be regarded as a specific distinction. Thus I must hesitate to adopt the Lophura shawii of Gray and the Lophura celebensis recently distinguished by Peters (Monatsber. Ak. Berl. 1872, p. 581); the latter is represented in the British Museum by an adult female received many years ago from the Leyden Museum with the name of Basiliscus celebensis. PERIPIA MUTILATA, Wiegm. I have no doubt that Professor Peters is correct in supposing that Peripia peronii (D. & B.) is identical with Peropus mutilatus (Wiegm.). CALAMARIA MODESTA (D. & B.). Dr. Meyer has obtained a singular variety of this species at Manado. The upper parts are of a light coffee-brown, dotted with darker. The abdomen is blackish, with a well-defined median white longitudinal band. This peculiar distribution of the colours of the abdomen I find more or less distinctly indicated in specimens from Java. OXYCALAMUS OXYCEPHALUS. (Fig. p. 169.) Rhabdosoma oxycephalum, Giinth. Colubr. Sn. p. 242. This species is most closely allied to O. longiceps (Cantor) from Pinang; but a direct comparison is rendered almost impossible by the bad state of preservation of the type of the latter species. O. oxycephalus lacks a praeorbital; the number of ventral scutes is 137-152. |
