LIZARDS 



177 



Fh ■ '• II'. '-a ::.,-K,n!, f.Z.5. 



BANDED IGUANAS 



j4 rare ipecics from the Fiji IsIanJi. Alalt to the ri^/it ; female icithcut bandi 

 left. The example crouchirjg betiveen them is a bearded lizard 



and cannot be safel)- kept in company with otlier less 



powerful species. 



The attribute of bipedal locomotion is possessed by the 



teguexin. That this singular method of progression was an 



accomplishment possessed by one of the larger tropical 



American lizards was first reported to the writer from 



Trinidad. Some species of iguana was, in the first instance, 



anticipated to be the acrobatic performer. Several ex- 

 amples of this family group were accordingly put through 



their paces at the Zoo, to ascertain if they could lay claim 



to the distinction. None of the iguanas available, however, 



rose (on their hind legs) to the occasion, and it was only 



on experimenting, as a dtrnicrc rcssourcc, with the teguexin 



that a successful demonstration was accomplished. This 



lizard was found, in fact, to run bipedall}' more freely and pcrsistentlv, when sufficient space 



was allotted it, than the Agamas. It seems singular that this bipedal power of locomotion 



should have so long remained undiscovered, and \'et is possessed by lizards w^iich have for a 



number of years been the denizens of many 

 zoological gardens and other menageries. 

 1 he fact that a comparatively large level area 

 i-; a sine tjiia 11011 for the exhibition of this 

 phenomenon affords no doubt the explanation 

 t'f this anomaly; but the anomaly itself at the 

 same time serves to accentuate the desirability, 

 in the interests of both science and the animals' 

 comfort, that exists for providing them in cap- 

 tivit_\- with a more liberal and reasonably sufficient 

 space for their indulgence in those methods of 

 locomotion that are natural to them in their 

 nati\'e land. 



pfei. 6, w.sav,n,.K„,t,¥.z.s. Thc Grcavcd Lizard Family includes some- 



SOUTH AFRICAN GIRDLED LIZARD ^^'h^t o^er one hundred species. While the 



Remarkable for the .ftny armature, ■t.hich h arranged i,, eo„ce.tr,c majority ^grCC with the tegUCxin in the pOS- 



girdUi session of well-developed limbs, there are a few 



