| OCR Text |
Show 1891.] MR. G. A. BOULENGER ON LACERTA SIMONYI. 201 comparatively short and broad proportions-the same feature by which the dorsal shield of Homosteus is most conspicuously distinguished from that of Coccosteus ; and it may be added that if the originals of figs. 3 and 4 are correctly determined as anterior median ventral and ventro-lateral respectively, they represent a fish of exactly the same size as that indicated by the occipital plates with which they are associated. In conclusion, the new evidence seems to show that the "cranial shield " of Homosteus extended backwards far beyond the hinder extremity of the brain ; while there are suggestive indications of the ventral shield having been as remarkably short and broad as the dorsal. The last mentioned result is exactly such as might have been anticipated ; but the former, if substantiated by further discoveries, presents some novel features for investigation. 2. On Simony's Lizard, Lacerta simonyi. By G. A. BOULENGER, F.Z.S. [Received March 3, 1891.] (Plates XVIII. & XIX.) The largest of the three specimens of Ljacertasimonyi^te'mdachner:obtained by Canon Tristram on the Rock of Zalmo, near Hierro, Canary Islands, and presented to the Society by Lord Lilford, having recently died, has been acquired by the British Museum. I propose to give a description and figure of this rare Lizard as a supplement to Dr. Steindachner's account. The specimen here described is a male. Physiognomy and general proportions of Lacerta ocellata. Head large, with swollen cheeks ; snout moderately long, obtuse. Rostral entering the nostril; a single postnasal, in contact with the first and second labials ; frontal as broad as long, not quite as long as the frontoparietals; supraoculars separated from the supraciliaries by a series of granules ; interparietal very narrow, as long as the occipital; occipital large, trapezoid, its posterior border two thirds the width of the frontal; five upper labials anterior to the subocular ; temple covered with large irregular shields; a narrow elongate shield on the upper anterior border of the ear ; the so-called masseteric shield more or less enlarged. Gular fold absent; 34 gular scales on a line between the collar and the third pair of chin-shields; collar with serrated edge, composed of 13 plates. Dorsal scales small, oval, strongly keeled, separated from one another by minute granules; 90 scales across the middle of the body; two or three series of scales on the sides correspond to one ventral plate. Ventral plates square in tbe middle, longer than broad on the sides, in 20 longitudinal and 34 transverse series. Prseanal plate bordered by three semicircles of small plates. The hind limb reaches the axilla. 1 Anz. Ak. Wiea, 1889, p. 260. |
