^ Fauna : Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish 



a great consumer ot flies, cockroaches, anci other noisome insects, 

 it is unharmed by the Negroes, anci is frequently met with in 

 towns and villages. 



The tamily ot the large Monitor lizards is represented 

 by the common Varanus niloticus. These creatures — often six 

 feet long — are miscalled throughout West Africa by Europeans 

 and Americo-Liberians " iguanas." Iguana is the name ot 



307. A SKINK, LYGOSOMA FERNANDI 



a remarkable s^i'oup of vegetarian lizards confined to America, 

 the Pacific Islands, and Madagascar in its distribution. This, 

 like so many other American names, has been imported into 

 West Africa, usually in the corrupted form of " guana." 

 The correct English name of this type is " monitor." The 

 Latin name Varanus is deriveci from the Arabic War an, the 

 name given to these lizards in Egypt. This large monitor lizard 



815 



