OCR Text |
Show 34 REPTILIA. bercles on the sides of the neck. The top of the cranium is furnished with arched plates; the occiput is tuberculous; the dewlap is moderate, and has but few indentations, and those only before. Laurenti says its habitat is India, but he is mistaken; we have received it from the Brazils, and from Guadaloupe.(l) Jg. cornuta, Cuv.; Jg. cornu de 8t Domingue, Lacep.; Bonnat. Encyc. Method. Erpetolog. Lezards, pl. iv, f. 4. (The Horned Iguana.) Similar to the Common Iguana, and still more so to the preceding species, but is distinguished by a conical, osseous point between the eyes, and by two scales raised up over the nostrils; the infra-tympanal plate is deficient as well as the tubercles on the neck, but the scales on the jaws are embossed. Ig. cychlura, Cuv. (The Carolina Iguana.) No infra-tympanal plate or small spines on the neck, but carinated scales, rather larger than the rest, form cin~tures on the tail at separate intervals.(2) OPHRYEssA, Boie. Small imbricated scales; a slightly salient dorsal crest, extending on the tail, which is compressed; denticulated maxillary teeth, and teeth in the palate: circumstances which approximate them to Iguana; but they have no dewlap, nor femoral pores. Lac. superciliosa, L.; Seb. I, cix, 4; Lophyrus xiphurus, Spix, X, so called from a membranous carina which forms its eyebrow, is an American species, of a fawn colour, with a festooned brown band along each flank. BAsiLiscus, Daud. No pores; palatine teeth; the body covered with small scales; on the back and tail a continuous and elevated crest supported by the spinous apophyses of the vertebrce, like that on the tail of the Istiuri. The species known, Lacerta basiliscua, L., Seb. I, c. 1; Daud. III, xlii, is recognized by the hood-like membranous prominence of its occiput, that is supported by cartilage. It attains a large size, is bluish, with two white bands, one behind the eye, the ( 1) I suspect the .O.mblyrhynchus cristatus, Bell. Zoo I. J ourn. 1, Supp. p. xii, is a badly prepared specimen of my nudicallis. (2) It also appears to me that this Iguana is the same which Dr Harlan (Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. of Phil. IV, pl. xv,) calls Oychlura carinata; but in this case there must be some mistake, as in the Amblyrhynchus, relative to the palatine teeth. These teeth exist in all my Iguanas. SA URI A. 35 other back of the jaws, which are lost on the shoulder.(l) It is from Guiana, and feeds on grain. PoLYCHRus, Cuv. Teeth in the palate as in Iguana, and femoral pores, though the latter are not strongly marked; but the body is covered with small scales, and is destitute of a crest. The head is covered with plates; tail long and slender; throat very extensible, so that a dewlap is formed at the will of the animal, which, like the Chameleon, possesses the faculty of changing colour; the lungs, consequently, are very voluminous, occupy nearly the whole trunk, and are divided into several branches; the false ribs, like those of the chameleon, surround the abdomen by uniting so as to form perfect circles. Lac. marmorata, L.; Marbre de la Guiane, Lacep. I, xxvi; Seb. II, lxxvi, 4; Spix, XIV. Reddish-grey, marbled with irregular transverse bands of a brown-red, sometimes mixed with blue; the tail very long. Common in Guiana.(2) EcPHIMOTus, Fitzinger. Teeth and pores of a Polychrus, but small scales on the body only; on the tail, which is very thick, they are large, pointed, and carinate; the head is covered with plates. Their form is somewhat short, and flattened, more like that of certain Agamce than of a Polychrus. The most common species, .!lgama tuberculata1 Spix, XY, 1, or Tropidurus torquatus, Pr. Max.(3) is ash-coloured, sprinkled with whitish drops, and has a black semi-collar on each side of the neck. It inhabits Brazil. 0PLURus, Cuv.(4) Teeth of a Polychrus and the form of an Agama, but no pores on the thighs, and the pointed and carinated scales of the tail ally it to that of a Stellio; the dorsal scales also are pointed and carinate, but very small. One species only is known. ( 1) It is on the authority of Seba that this species has hitherto been considered as inhabiting India-it does not inhabit that country. (2) Add, Pol. acutirostres, Spix, XIV. (3) The 'l'ropidurusofPr. Max. de Wied. is not, as he imagined, the Quetzpaleo of Seba, although it is also marked with black semi-collars. ( 4) The name of Quetzpaleo, given by Seba to the above species, seems to be a corruption of the Mexican .O.qua quetz pallia, which appears to be a name of the Iguana; the Quetzpaleo of Lacep., Rept. 4to, II, 497, ls a Uromastix; but the figure quoted is that of Seba's animal. \ |