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Show 1895.] BATRACHIANS FROM ADEN. 647 Jesse in Abyssinia, referred by Mr. Blanford* many years ago, and again more recently2, to Euprepes perrotetii, and which he suspected was the Tiliqua burtoni, Blyth3, from Somali-land. Blyth's description of Tiliqua burtoni is very short. H e compares it to " Tiliqua rufescens of India," but says that it differed in having a series of large scales along the upper surface of the tail. N o w the Somali-land lizard that best agrees with Blyth's species, in this respect, is M. hildebrandti, and not theAbyssinian and Arabian Mabuia brevicollis, Wiegmann. Mr. Boulenger * has identified Mr. Blanford's lizard as Euprepes brevicollis, Wiegmann 5, after having studied the type in the Berlin Museum, and also that of E. pyrrhocephalus, Wiegm., preserved in the same Institution, and which he considered to be identical with the former. Wiegmann states regarding E. brevicollis, which was from Abyssinia, " capitis totius-que corporis pholidosis eadem quae in pyrrhocephala " - a statement which is of importance as he mentions that the latter had two loreals, whereas in the specimen in the British Museum there is only one loreal-a condition, however, which is in all probability due to fusion of the shields. Apart from this abnormal feature, there can be no doubt that the Abyssinian lizard is the E. brevicollis, Wiegm., of which a much more detailed description exists under E. pyrrhocephalus. The latter was obtained by Hemprich and Ehrenberg on the island of Aschik in the Bed Sea, and the former, as already mentioned, was from Abyssinia. The fact that the specimen in the British Museum was from Abyssinia and that it agreed on the whole, with the exception of having a single loreal, with the structural features and more especially the coloration of E. brevicollis, probably led M r . Boulenger to select the term brevicollis as the specific name in preference to E.pyrrhocephalus. The specimen that M r . Boulenger dealt with was a female, and all the individuals from Aden of the same sex agree wdth Wiegmann's description of E. brevicollis, whereas all the males from Aden correspond to E. pyrrhocephalus. From a consideration of these facts, it becomes evident that Wiegmann's description of E. pyrrhocephalus was founded on the male and that of E. brevicollis on the female of the same species. The adult of E. pyrrhocephalus measured about 137 millim. from the snout to the vent, which is only about 8 millim. shorter than the largest male collected by Colonel Yerbury. Herr Matschie6 has recently redescribed tbis species under the name of M. pulchra, his two specimens having been obtained also at Lahej, or close to it. The smallest of Colonel Yerbury's specimens is practically of the same size as Herr Matschie's largest example of his M.pulchra, as it is 64 millim. from snout to vent, wdiile tbe latter is 61 millim. It agrees exactly with his description. 1 Geol. & Zool. of Abyssinia, 1870, p. 456. 2 Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1881, p. 469. 3 Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xxiv. pt. 2, 1856, p. 306, 4 Cat. Liz. B. M. iii. 1887, p. 169. 5 Arch. f. Natur. Berl. 1837, p. 133. 6 SB. Ges. Berl. 1893, p». 29-30. |