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and southern India extending as far as Sind in the west and south to
Ceylon.
The freshwater turtles or mud-turtles, Family Trionychidae, have their
carapace covered with soft skin, and forelimbs paddleshaped. The head
and neck are completely retractile and jaws are concealed by fleshy lips.
Two species occur in the State. The Soft Terrapin Lissemys punctata
granosa (Schoepff) inhabits rivers, streams and ponds and can often be
seen basking on stones projecting above the water. Timid and difficult to
approach, it feeds mainly on frogs and fish and other water organisms but
may come out at night seeking decaying organic material. It is particularly
destructive to fish. The eggs are buried in holes oft banks and the young
are common during the monsoon. This species is widely eaten and is
believed to be a cure for anaemia. Leiths Turtle Trionyxietihi grey is also
common in the rivers and ponds of peninsular India. The young are grey
and marked with four well defined ocelli or spots. The head is greenish
with a well defined black longitudinal streak from between the eyes to the
neck. This turtle attains a carapace length of 700 mm. Feeds mainly on
frogs and fishes and other water organisms. Usually lies buried in the mud,
leaving only the head uncovered and thus hidden, seizes its prey by a
sudden and rapid movement of the long neck.
Lizards and snakes are among the most highly evolved of living
reptiles and are grouped under two sub-orders Sauria (Lizards) and
Squamata (Snakes) of the Order Squamata. Lizards are by far the most
conspicuous and most abundant among modern reptiles. As a rule lizards
can be separated from snakes by a combination of characters which are :
presence of four limbs, a non- retractile tongue, presence of yelids and ear
openings. One or more of these characters all of which are absent in all
snakes are present in all lizards. All Indian lizards are non-poisonous. 28
species of 12 genera and 8 families of lizards occur in Maharashtra.
The Geckos family Geckonidae are distinguished by the absence of
symmetrical shields on the ead, immovable eyelids, a short broad tongue
covered with villose pappilae. Skin soft, with granules and rarely
imbricate scales dorsally. 14 species occur in Maharashtra. The Ground
FAUNA 626