8 • PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.06 



Doctor Stejneger has given me permission to use his notes on the 

 differences between our specimen and the description of the type. 

 He says : 



The principal characters relied upon for the diagnosis of Aloponotus ricordii 

 were (1) the alleged lack of scales on the upper part of the body; (2) a 

 small dewlap on the foreneck; (3) a long double row of femoral pores; (4) 

 a verticillated tail with spines at certain intervals; (5) small, equal, polygene 

 plates on top of the head. 



The alleged absence of scales on the back i;-'. emphasized by the authors' 

 saying, " The saurian, for which we establish this genus, is the only one we 

 know of which has almost the entire upper surfaces of the body devoid of 

 scales * * *. The skin of these regions resembles that of some sharks 

 * * *. Examined under the lens the surface seems covered with very small 

 granules extremely ' serres les uns contre les autres.' " Unfortunately the 

 figure given by the authors on Plate 38 flatly contradicts this description show- 

 ing, as it does, the entire back and sides covered with rather large, nearly 

 uniform, rhomboidal scales. In addition this same figure shows a verticillate 

 tail with a homogeneous scutellation and without the spiny rings as described 

 in the text. This discrepancy between the description and the illustration has 

 contributed largely to the discredit and oblivion into wliich this species has 

 fallen. 



With regard to the alleged unique lack of scales on the back. Cope has 

 shown' that in certain specimens of Metopoceros in the island of Navassa, 

 the dorsal scales or granules vary in size from being minutely granular in 

 some places to forming distinct; scales everywhere. Dumeril and Bibron's 

 own description, moreover, shows that by the expression " skin entirely 

 devoid of scales " they did not mean that the skin was naked, only that the 

 " scales " were reduced to very small granules. Our specimen has a single row 

 of femoral pores, while the lepidosi.s on the back is that of very small scales 

 without keels, rather than granules. The latter character, as we have seen in 

 another form of the same genus, seems to be a variable one, and as for the 

 femoral pores, we know that the additional series is of no systematic importance, 

 one or two rows being found in several species. 



Dr. G. K. Noble, of the American Museum of Natural History, 

 succeeded in capturing alive a number of these lizards, which he 

 brought back to New York in 1922. Some observations on the habits 

 and coloration of the living animals would be very interesting. 



CYCLURA CORNUTA (Bonnaterre) 



One adult male (U.S.N.M., No. 65139 from Trujin taken February 

 19, 1922, measured 1,410 mm. in length, the head and body being 640 

 mm. Another male (No. 60599) from Cayemite Island, captured 

 January 13, 1918, measured 1,035 mm., the tail being 530 mm. long. 

 From the same island, taken the same day, another male (No. 60600) 

 was 1,030 mm. in length, the tail being 490 mm., according to notes 

 made by Doctor Abbott. A female (No. 60601) was taken at the 

 same place on January 11, 1918. Three specimens (Nos. 62558- 



' Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc, vol. 23, 1886, p. 263. 



