Vol. XXVI, pp. G9-72 March 22, 1913 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THF. 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



A NEW LIZARD FROM PORTO RICO. 



BY LEONHARD STEJNEGER. 



[Published here bj permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.] 



When finishing my " Herpetology of Porto Rico,'-' * in 1901 , 

 I had examined about 900 specimens from that little island, 

 540 of which were collected by Dr. Charles \V. Richmond and 

 myself during a two months' visit during which I paid special 

 attention to the reptiles. There was consequently some reason 

 for believing that the herpetological fauna might be exhausted, 

 and that at least no conspicuous species would have escaped 

 detection. It is true that Dr. Richmond and I discovered one 

 on the very last day of our stay on the island, hut that we 

 regarded as positively the last novelty. Mr. Wetmore's dis- 

 covery of a very distinct new species of lizard there consequently 

 conns somewhat in the nature of a shock and illustrates once more 

 the fortuitous character of reptile collecting. And yet, this very 

 discovery might almost have been predicted on zoogeogra pineal 

 grounds. One of the distributional puzzles of the Antilles has 

 been the occurrence of Ameiva polops on St. Croix, the southern 

 island of the Virgin Island group, since its nearest, and in fact 

 very close, relative, Ameiva lineolata was found in Hayti only. 

 These two species form a somewhat isolated group among the 

 other species of Ameiva, and it is therefore very gratifying to 

 tind a third species of this group represented on the island situ- 

 ated intermediate between the two other localities. 1 take great 

 pleasure in naming it after its discoverer. 



•Rep. U. S. Nat, Mus., (1902), 1904, pp. 549-724. 



L6— Pboc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXVI, 1913. (09) 



