XII LACERTIDAK 



d:) 



tweeii the postfrontal {pt-f<^, the lateral occipital and the supra- 

 temporal. The large ju^al and the quadrate are not con- 

 nected with each other. The columella cranii is well developed. 

 The infra -orbital fossae are surrounded by the palatines, pterygoids, 

 ectopterygoids, and maxillaries. The palatines and pterygoids 

 remain separated in the middle line. The pterygoids frequently 

 carry little teeth. The other teetli are typically pleurodont, 

 hollow, slightly curved, and bi- or tri-cuspid. 



The skin covering the body, the legs, and the tail is devoid of 

 osteoderms. The scales on the dorsal surface vary much in size, 

 from large, strongly keeled scales to tiny granulations. Those 

 of the ventral surface are large, broader than long, and are 

 frequently arranged in regular transverse and longitudinal rows. 

 The tail, generally long and pointed, is very brittle. All the 

 sense-organs are well developed. The tympanum is exposed. 

 The tongue is deeply l)ifurcated, narrow, Hat, and covered with 

 scale-like papillae. 



Various Lacertidae, especially some of those genera which live 

 and dig in the sand, have a transparent disc in the middle of the 

 lower eyelid, so that they can see while the eye itself is prcj- 

 tected. This is for instance the case in some specimens of the 

 Indian and African Eremias. In the Indian genus Cabrita the 

 transparent disc is very large, and in Oith/urps, which inhabits 

 sandy stretches from North Africa to India, the lower eyelid is 

 fused with the rim of the much-reduced upper lid, and forms a 

 large transparent window. 



The Lacertidae or True Lizards comprise nearly twenty 

 genera, with about one hundred species, and are typical of 

 the Old World, being found in Europe, Asia, and Africa, 

 but not in ^Madagascar nor in the Australian region. They 

 are most abundant in Africa. Their northern limit coincides 

 fairly closely with the limit of the permanently frozen 

 under-ground. This is indicated in the map (Fig. 143) by the 

 dotted line. All the Lacertidae live upon animal food, chieMy 

 insects, and after tliem worms and snails ; but the larger lizards 

 take what they can master, frecpiently other lizards, and even 

 younger members of their own kind. Mtmy of them love sugar, 

 which they lick, and all require water. They are all terrestrial, 

 preferring, according to their kind, such localities as yield 

 them their particular food. Sunshine and warmth make a 



