144 AGAMID^. 



Genus CHARASIA, 

 Gray, Cat. Liz. p. 246, 1845. 



Tympanum distinct. Body slightly depressed, covered with uni- 

 form keeled scales. A very feeble dorsal crest. A pit on each side 

 of the throat, usually connected by a transverse fold. No gular 

 sac. Tail round or slightly compressed. No pra^aual or femoral 

 pores or callosities. 



Distribution. India. 



Synopsis of the Species. 



a. Tail longer than head and body ; 115 to 140 



scales round middle of body C. dorsalis, p. 144. 



b. Tail longer than head and body ; 80 to 100 



scales round middle of body C. blmifordiana, p. 145. 



e. Tail shorter than head and body ; gular scales 



larger than ventrals C. ornata, p. 145. 



160. Charasia dorsalis. 



Agama dorsalis, Gray, ^^>'W- ^- -^' J^? %''• P- •^^• 

 Charasia dorsalis, Gilnth. liept. B.I. p. 150; Theob. Caf.^. 114; 

 Boideng. Cat. Liz. i, p. 332. 



Head rather elongate in the adult, covered with small irregular 

 smooth or feebly keeled scales, which are a little enlarged on the 

 supraorbital region ; two very small spines usually present above 

 the tympanum ; the latter larger than the eye-opening ; cheeks 

 strongly swollen in the adult male. A strongly marked transverse 

 gular fold; gular scales very small, subimbricate, smooth, very feebly 

 keeled in the young. 8cales on the body very small (115 to 140 

 round the middle), subimbricate, and smooth or indistinctly keeled 

 in the adult, more distinctly keeled and imbricate in the young, the 

 keels of the dorsal scales directed obliquely towards the vertebral 

 line. Dorso-nuchal crest scarcely indicated by a slight ridge. 

 Limbs covered with small scales slightly larger than those on ttie 

 body ; digits moderately elongate ; the adpressed hind limb reaches 

 between the tympanum and the posterior border ol' the orbit in the 

 adult, beyond the latter point in the young. Tail round, slightly 

 compressed and much swollen at the base in the adult male, covered 

 with small, more or less distinctly keeled scales which are a little 

 enlarged inferiorly and on the upper median series ; its length equals 

 nearly once and three fourths that of head and body. Young olive- 

 brown, spotted or marbled \\ith brown, and with a series of rounded 

 white spots along each side of the back ; this coloration more or 

 less distinctly retained in the female ; male yellow or red, with a 

 broad black lateral band corumencing from the eye. 



From snout to vent 5*5 inches; tail 10'5. 



Hah. Southern India ; only found on rocks at some elevation 

 above the sea, up to 6000 feet in the Nilgiris. 



