TEIID LIZARDS OF THE GENUS CNEMIDOPHORUS 131 



ill tlic prt'sciK'c of I'lilarncd polyiioiH's or scutes on the [jostcrior siir- 

 I'aco of tlie foroanii. in the attiiinnicnt of a body lonujth of over 85 

 nun. (snout to anus), in tlie prcscnc-e of spots in tht' lateral fields, 

 or in tlie presence of cross-bars and reticuhitions on the sides. Any 

 of these differences from ,^ed-/ineafu.s are diagnostic, although they 

 do not separate (jularix from pcrplcvus. 



Description. — Snout moderately [)ointed ; nostril anterior to nasal 

 suture: anterior nasal usually not in contact with second upper labial; 

 su[)raoculars normally 4; supraocular granules usually not extending 

 forward past the anterior border of the fourth supraocular, and 

 rarely extending i)ast the middle of the third; supraocular granules 

 relatively large, usually not over three rows between the posterior 

 supraocular and the external parietal plates; frontoparietals nor- 

 mally 2; parietals normally )>: anterior gulars moderate to large, 

 graded, nsuall}* somewhat enlarged eentralh*; posterior gulars 

 smaller, although sometimes secondarily enlarged just anterior to 

 the first gular fold ; mesoptychium with rather large scutes, these 

 uniform or graded and often enlarged centrally, in 1-4 rows; post- 

 mesoptychial granules minute, usually hidden by posterior gular 

 fold, seldom on edge of mesoptychium. 



Bod}' elongate; ventral plates in 8 longitudinal and \V1-4S) trans- 

 verse rows; dorsal granules moderately large; limbs well developed; 

 brachials 4-10; anteljrachials 2-4; brachials more or less continuous 

 with antebrachials at a point of contact; posterior side of forearm 

 with granules, polygones or scutes; femorals 5-10; tibials 3-5; 

 femoral pores 14—23; tail elongate, tapering; caudal scales smooth 

 below, keeled above; lateral keels moderately strong to weak, more 

 or less distinctly longitudinal in arrangement, on moderately large 

 plates. 



Coloration highly variable; ventral surfaces usually white, but 

 sometimes faded to blackish in preserved specimens; in life, some- 

 times with light blue or slate at the sides of the chest and abdomen, 

 but never Avith blue-black as in many specimens of gulari^; tail usu- 

 ally unspotted beloAv, unicolor or spotted and reticulated above; 

 femora normally unspotted in specimens of the common lined phase, 

 but more or less distinctly spotted in the larger cross-barred phase; 

 back lined or unlined ; if lined, size small, six to eight stripes present, 

 middorsal one if present often vestigal or rudimentar}^; if unlined, 

 size large, vestiges of stripes may or may not be present dorsally, 

 especially anteriorh^, but crossbars, reticulations or spots always 

 present; spots present or absent in the lateral fields of the young 

 and in the lines themselves; ground color of back and sides not dis- 

 tinctly contrasted, usually brownish, grayish or black; a yellowish 

 middorsal streak never present as in most specimens of gularis and 

 sexUneatus. 



