TEIID LIZARDS OF THE GENUS CNEMIDOPHORUS 203 



Diagnosis. — The "\vlii})(iiil ol" San Jose Island is distin<2;uislied from 

 tessellatus only by the presence of reddish or pinkish in the ventral 

 coloration,-^ particulai'ly under the tail, and from inibidus by a dis- 

 tinctive coloration. The (hirk temporal markings, althou<^h usually 

 brownish and indistinct in ruhklus, are black and well defined in 

 celcpipes. Because of a dominance of the ground color of the orig- 

 inal dark longitudinal fields, which results from a suppression of 

 cross-barring, the pattern of eelerlj^es always gives the general im- 

 pression of alternate and largely continnous series of longitudinal 

 stripes or chains of black and white spots lying side by side. There 

 are occasional white crossbars in all specimens, especially laterally, 

 but in no case is the number as large as in typical ruhidus or in most 

 tessellatus. In intbidus the dark dorsal ground color is usually 

 brownish, instead of black. Unlike celenpes, specimens of nibidus 

 often show dorsal markings Avhich present a definite transverse as 

 well as a longitudinal arrangement, each dark unit on the back being 

 roughly square or rectangular instead of rounded. 



Description. — Snout rather blunt; nostril anterior to nasal suture; 

 anterior nasal usually not in contact with second upper labial ; supra- 

 oculars 4 ; supraocular granules variable in position ; frontoparietals 

 2; parietals normally 3; anterior gulars moderate, enlarged cen- 

 trally; posterior gulars small, uniform; mesoptychial scales small, 

 median largest, arranged in 6-8 transverse rows. 



Bodj' elongate; ventral plates in 8 longitudinal and 33-37 trans- 

 verse rows; dorsal granules small; limbs well deA'eloped; brachials 

 4-6; antebrachials 2-4; brachials and antebrachials more or less 

 continuous at a point of contact; postantebrachium with small or 

 slightly enlarged granules : f emorals 6-9 ; tibials 3-4 ; femoral pores 

 18-23; tail elongate, tapering; caudal plates large, oblique, with 

 rather weak lateral keels. 



Coloration distinctive; under surfaces suffused with more or 

 less reddish or pinkish, often black spotted; gular region usually 

 heavih^ spotted with black and often crossed by prominent black 

 bars; temporal region with prominent black blotches or bars; chest 

 or abdomen ncA^er coA-ered by a continuous black suffusion; lower 

 surface of tail usually unspotted, pinkish; upper surfaces of tail 

 with less pink than ruhidus, darker, often reticulated with more or 

 less blackish; dorsal pattern predominatingly longitudinal, rather 

 than transverse; cross-bars .sujipressed dorsally, more numerous on 

 sides, and usually incom])lete: l)lack dorsal fields more or less con- 

 fluent, chainlike, edges undulatory or rounded; original stripes 

 alternately widened and constricted, also chainlike and more or less 

 confluent longitudinally; lower lateral stripes never of even width; 

 young with spots in lateral fields, adults usually without spots. 



^ The red may become nearly or quite indistinguishable after long preservation. 



