524 



LACERTAE 



CHAP. 



cross-bands, Jind wiili a larKul Mack Ijaiul reaching from the eye 

 t( I the shoulder. The under parts are pale olive, with small black 

 dots. The throat, although devoid of a special sac, is frequently 

 Inilged out by the hyoid apparatus, as shown in Fig. 127, taken 

 from a specimen in the Zoological Gardens in London. 



Uromastix is a typical desert-form, inhabiting the dry and 

 sandy tracts of North Africa, Arabia, Syria; Persia, and North- 

 western India. The genus is easily recognised by the short and 

 thick tail, wiiich is covered with whorls of large spinous scales, 

 while the much-depressed body and head are almost smooth, being 



Vliq".ijiirh 



Fig. Vll .^Phijsi<jnathns lesueuri. y.\. 



covered witli very small scales. The tympanum of the ear is 

 quite exposed. The incisors are large, uniting in the adult into 

 one or two pairs of large cutting teeth, separated from the molars 

 by a toothless space. There is a transverse fold on tlie throat. 

 Pre-anal and fcnnoral pores are well develo])ed. 



The.se " .Spin} -tailed Lizards "' live chietly upon vegetable food, 

 leaves, grass and fruit, but they vary tliis diet with insects, at 

 least in captivity, where they become rather partial to meal- 

 worms. They are absolutely terrestrial and diurnal, preferring 

 sandy ])laces, where they bask or rather roast themselves in the 

 sun ; for tiie night, at the a])i)roach of rain, or on dull and 

 cliilly days, they retire into thcii' Imn-ows, wbich they dig in 



