FAUNA OF CAPE REGION 
207 
The point, however, I wish to direct special attention to 
is the fauna as a whole inhabiting the southern part of the 
long peninsula of Lower California. This peninsula, for which 
many people retain the Spanish name “ Baja California,” is 
a narrow strip of broken mountainous land, nearly eight hun¬ 
dred miles long, and averaging about fifty miles in width. On 
the western side of this region there are a series of isolated 
peaks or ridges rising to a height of about 2,000 feet. An 
older range of mountains, composed of granite and gneiss, lies 
along the eastern flank of the peninsula. Most of this vast 
country is bare and desert-like, with a scanty flora, water 
being difficult to obtain.* As soon as we enter what is called 
the “ Cape Region ” all this is changed. Running water can 
be procured throughout the whole year, in the larger canons 
at any rate, and this gives rise to an extremely rich and 
exuberant vegetation. While almost the whole of the fauna 
and flora of the peninsula are merely a continuation of those 
of California- and Arizona, having evidently passed into it from 
the north and east, the southernmost tip, or Cape Region, has 
an entirely different set of animals and plants. I have already 
alluded to the occurrence here of Euchirotes biporus, a very 
peculiar burrowing lizard belonging to the ancient family of 
Amphisbaenidae, and of the boa Lichanura trivirgata. Another 
reptile, which is quite peculiar to the same district, is Cteno- 
saura hemilopha. This great lizard, of nearly two feet in 
length, possessing a high crest along its back, a green head 
and pale yellow body spotted with olive, brown and black, is a 
most remarkable and striking object. The only near relations 
of the burrowing lizard, and of the great active Ctenosaura, 
live in south-western Mexico. But the Mexican forms do not 
belong to the same species. We cannot, therefore, assume that 
these lizards have been accidentally carried across the Gulf 
of California, which has a width of about one hundred miles 
near the tip of the peninsula. The genus Ctenosaura, it 
may be mentioned, is related to Cyclura of the West Indies, 
and Brachylophus of the Fiji and Friendly Islands, these 
genera all belonging to the great family Iguanidae, which 
has inhabited America since Cretaceous times (p. 202).f 
* Merrill, G. P., “Lower California.” 
f Denburgh, J. van, “ Herpetology of Lower California,” p. 78. 
