TEIID LIZARDS OF THE GENUS CNEMIDOPHORUS 231 



forking of the single dorsal line was presumed to take place farther 

 back in schmidti than in beldingi (and one might add V. hypenjthra 

 Jii/penjthra as well). Of the specimens referred to .sc/im/'dti by Van 

 Denburgh, five do not have a forked dorsal stripe. The length of the 

 anterior fork of the other 56 specimens was measured and computed 

 as a i)ercentage of the total length of the entire dorsal line, fork 

 and all, and thus the range of variation in the dorsal forking (of 

 ^'an Denburgh and Slevin's more or less carefully selected speci- 

 mens) is found to he from 10.0 to 40.5 per cent. In *' hijjjen/hfni.s''^ 

 from the Cape and Central Districts of Lower California this range 

 extends from 9.1 to 90 per cent, and in " heJdhigl " from the northern 

 district of Lower California and from various localities in southern 

 California it extends from 14.3 to 89 per cent. A comparison of 

 these figures shows how futile it is to recognize schmidti as distinct 

 on the character of the middorsal line and its percentage of forking. 

 The following quotation from A-^an Denburgh (19i!'2, p. 556) indi- 

 cates that he was much perplexed by the variation that he observed 

 in these lizards : " Of 14 specimens from Puerto Escondido, nine 

 are typical T'. hyperythra schmidti, while five have tAvo dorsal lines. 

 Therefore, it is probable that this species intergrades in the south 

 Avith F. hyperythra hypcrytlna^ as it does in the north with Y . hyper- 

 ythra IjeJdiiKji. The relations of these three forms are not yet 

 clear for F. hyperythra heldingi^ taken near the northern limit of its 

 range in California, where it cannot be considered as intergrading 

 Avith F. hyperythra schmidti^ may have a single dorsal line." 

 Schmidt (1922. p. 680) likewise admitted his confusion over the 

 situation as he found it. His statements are as follows: "As far as 

 I can discoA'er, the specimens before me with the sericea color pat- 

 tern,-^ or with a j^attern intermediate between that of sericea and 

 hyperythra are not structurally distinguishable from F. hyperythra 

 hetdingi; and the color pattern itself is not firmly fixed, although 

 it appears in the majority of specimens before me. . . . My 

 conception of Y. hyperythra schf/iidti, therefore allows for the ap- 

 ])ea]'ance of a minority of specimens colored like the form from 

 which I believe it to be directly derived or in the process of 

 derivation.*' 



The diagnosis of F. espiritc/isis stated that the supraoculars are 

 normally 3. An examination of all of the available topotypes, 9 in 

 number, shows that 7 of these are '" normal " and tliat 2 have 4 supra- 

 ocuhirs. The second supi'aocular was said to be usually in contact 

 Avith the frontal. It is found to be in contact Avith the frontal in 

 7 specimens and not in 2, one of Avhich is the type. That F. 



=5 This must not be interpreted literally in tlie same sense as set forth in this work 

 under C. liyperytlirus danhcimae (= V. sericea). It merely refers to the possession of 

 a single dorsal line, which may be forked for a greater or lesser distance anteriorly. 



