873 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW LIZARD OF THE GENUS 

 AOANTHODACTYLUS FROM ^MESOPOTAMIA. 



BY 



G. A. B0ULEN(iEH, LL.D., D.SC, F.li.S. 



(^rublished by jjerrnission of the Trustees of the British Museum.) 



Acanthodactijlus fraseri, sp. u. 



Habit rather slender, bodj"- moderately depressed. Head 1^ to 

 1§ times as loug as broad, its length 3;J or 4 times in length to 

 vent, its depth equal to the distance between the centre of the eye 

 and the tympanum ; a lanceolate concavity from the frontonasal to 

 the middle of the frontal ; snout obtusely pointed, li times as long- 

 as the portocular part of the head, with rather sharp canthus and 

 scarcely concave loreal region ; nasals feebly swollen. Pileus twice 

 as long as broad. Neck narrower than the head. The hind limb 

 reaches the collar; foot 1^ to 1^ times as long as the head ; fourth 

 toe, from the base of the fifth, as long as the head. Tail If times 

 as long as head and body. 



Upper head-shields convex, smooth or slightlj' i-ugose. Suture 

 between the nasals ^ the length of the frontonasal, which is a little 

 broader than long and broader than the internarial space ; prae- 

 frontals a little longer than broad, forming an extensive median 

 suture ; frontal shorter than its distance from the end of the snout, 

 1§ to 1| times as long as broad, rounded in front, narrow behind ; 

 parietals as long as broad or slightly broader than long, outer 

 border concave. 3 or 4 large supraoculars, first shorter than 

 second, fourth small or replaced by granules ; 5 or G sviperciliaries, 

 first longest and in contact with the first supraocular, the others 

 separated from the supraoculars by a series of granules. Anterior 

 loreal shorter than second ; 4 upper labials to below the centre of 

 the eye, the fourth the longest ; subocular sharply keeled below the 

 eye and forming an angle wedged in between the fourth and fifth 

 upper labials. A strongly keeled upper temporal, followed by one or 

 two smaller shields ; temporal scales granular, smooth, upper very 

 small, lower large ; a narrow tympanic shield ; 4 pointed scales 

 forming a denticulation in front of the ear-opening. 



5 pairs of chin-shields, the 3 first in contact in the middle. 28 

 or 29 imbricate gular scales in a straight line between the sym- 

 physis of the chin-shields and the median collar-plate, enlarged 

 towards the collar. Collar free, curved, composed of 10 or 11 

 plates. 



Scales granular and smooth or feebly keeled on the nape, rhombic 

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