Some notes on species of the genera Bachia and Scolecosaurus

Our herpetological collections contain only five specimens referable to the genera Bachia and Scolecosaurus, while the genus Bachia is represented in the Amsterdam Zoological Museum by eight specimens. Scanty though this material may be, some of the specimens proved to be of sufficient interest to justify the publication of these notes. At present thirteen species of Bachia 1) are known, viz., the twelve species listed in a key by Burt & Burt (1931, pp. 315-316) and Bachia anomala Roux (1929, p. 31). Perhaps Apatelus bresslaui Amaral (1935) must be referred to Bachia too. Roux (1929), Burt & Burt (1931) and Loveridge (1933) published notes on the variation of several characters, and these authors showed that the variation is greater than had been previously supposed by Ruthven (1925). This is also apparent from some of the following notes. Bachia schlegeli (Dum. & Bibr.) (fig. 1) Chalcides Schlegeli Duméril & Bibron, Erp. gén., vol. 5, 1839, p. 457. Chalcides schlegelii, Fitzinger, Systema Reptilium, 1843, p. 22. Microdactylus schlegeli, Boettger, 22. & 23. Ber. Offenbach. Ver. Naturk., 1883, p. 150. Microdactylus gracilis Tschudi (M. S.), in Duméril & Bibron, Erp. gén., vol. 5, 1839, p. 457; Gray, Cat. Liz. Brit. Mus., 1845, p. 47. Cophias tridactylus, Boulenger, Cat. Liz. Brit. Mus., vol. 2, 1885, p. 418 (part.). Bachia tridactylus, Ruthven, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 38, no. 3, 1925, p. 108 (part.). Herpetochalcis heteropus Boettger, Ber. Offenbach. Ver. Naturk., 1883, p. 150. Cophias heteropus, Boulenger, Cat. Liz. Brit. Mus., vol. 2, 1885, p. 418.