Vol. X] VON GELDERN—SKIN OF ANOLIS CAROUNENSIS 79 



he has never seen any changes other than the different shades of 

 brown to emerald green and bases his assirmption that the color 

 changes are much more simple in Anolis than in the true chameleon, 

 on the observations of Lockwood. 



To those observing these lizards in their natural environment, 

 it is evident that the variation is not so simple as has just been 

 noted. A slaty gray with no element of brown or green is of fairly 

 common occurrence, as is also straw yellow. 



Furthermore over certain areas of the body the colors undergo 

 even a greater variation than is ascribed to them by Ditmars. 

 Over the mid-dorsal region, for instance, there is present in many 

 of these lizards a narrow stripe of two or three millimeters in 

 •width, extending from the cervical region to the sacrtim or even 

 along the tail for a variable distance, in which further variations 

 may be noted. That this stripe varies in different individuals is 

 probable, and it may even be absent. Nevertheless, it is so char- 

 acteristic of many specimens that a description of its changes 

 should not be neglected. A bright pink color is often present 

 along the stripe which may become darker until it assumes a 

 brick-red color conveying the impression that there is placed 

 there a thick pigment which does not belong to the skin. This 

 stripe may also show a cream color or white, containing a faint 

 suggestion of yellow or brown. This light color is most often 

 observed in those lizards which have assumed the brown hue else- 

 where on the body. 



When the mid-dorsal stripe assumes either a pink or a white 

 stripe it is irregular at the edges and these irregular edges are dark 

 brown. A less irregular, black stripe is often observed in the green 

 state. 



I have been unable to discover any rule for the appearance of 

 the dorsal stripe in its various states. It may be present or absent, 

 brick-red, pink, white, or black in different lizards living under 

 the same conditions, nor does the color state of the rest of the body 

 influence the appearance to any extent. I believe that this stripe 

 may appear at some time in all the animals in which it is absent, 

 but that its appearance entails considerable change in the structiire 

 of the skin so that its production must necessarily be a slow one. 



On the sides of the maxilla, posterior to the eye there may be 

 present a black, quadrangular patch, measuring in large males 

 about two by three millimeters. When present, this patch is of 

 shiny black appearance and differs markedly from the rest of the 



