66 BULLETIN 151, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUIVI 



Family GERRHOSAURIDAE 



Genus GERRHOSAURUS Wiegmann 



GERRHOSAURUS MAJOR Dumeril 



Gerrhosaurus mjjar DaMsaiL, 1851, Cat. method, coll. Rept., Paris, p. 139. 

 (Zanzibar). — Boctlenger, 1887, Cat. Liz. Brit. Mus., vol. 3, p. 121. — 

 LovBRiDQE, 1920, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 149; and 1923, p. 954. 



Gerrhosaurus bergi Werner, 1908, Zool. Anz., vol. 30, p. 54, text figs. 1-3 (Usam- 

 bara Mtns. Tanganyika Territory). — Lonnberg, 1911, Svenska Vetensk.- 

 Akad. Handl., vol. 47, p. 15 (Northern Guaso Nyiro, K. C). 



2 (U.S.N.M. 40928-9) Ulukenya Hills, K. C. (Sm. Afr. Exped.) 1909. 

 1 (U.S.N.M. 49146) Mazeras, K. C. (Heller) 1911. 



4 (U.S.N.M. 49287-90) ? Mt. Sagalla, K. C. (Heller) 1911. 



3 (U.S.N.M. 49305-7) Maji-ya-Chumvi, K. C. (Heller) 1911. 

 3 (U.S.N.M. 49308-9, 49442) Kenya Colony. (Heller) 1911. 



1 (U.S.N.M. 49367) Merelle River, K. C. (Heller) 1911. 



None of these lizards attain such large dimensions as those which I 

 recorded in 1920 for a Mozambique specimen. The}' illustrate well 

 the fictitious nature of the value which has been placed upon the 

 character of whether the frontonasal is undivided {inajor) or divided 

 (bergi). All stages in this division are shown, even in the small series 

 from Maji-ya-chumvi where undivided (49307), semidivided (49305), 

 and completely divided (49306) conditions are represented; entire 

 division has taken place in 10 out of these 13 lizards. Nieden^^ has 

 already referred hergi to the sjmonymy of major. All are normal in 

 possessing 10 longitudinal series of ventral plates, and all, except No. 

 49288 which has 15, are within the range of variation in having from 

 11 to 14 femoral pores, the exception has 14 on the right leg. 



The above series present the typical uniform nut-brown, or reddish 

 brown, dorsal coloring and are white, or white tinged with pink, 

 below. There is, however, a further specimen — 



1 (U.S.N.M. 42216) Kenya Colony. (Sm. Afr. Exped.) 1909. 



which is darker brown spotted with yellow precisely like the type of 

 Tornier's^^ Gerrhosaurus major zechi from Kete Kratje, Togoland. 

 This race was based on two young specimens, the total length of the 

 larger being 273 mm. Later Schmidt ^° raised the form to specific 

 rank, queried whether G. hottegoi Del Prato from Eritrea was not a 

 synonym, and listed three specimens from Garamba, Belgian Congo, 

 of which the largest was 455 mm. I do not see how zechi can be a 

 subspecies of major for the geographical distribution of the two forms 

 lends no support to the view. Both occur together at Morogoro and 

 as one travels due west on the Central Railway of Tanganyika major 

 is met with at Kilosa, zechi at Dodoma and major again at Ulugu 

 and Luguo which are just north of Tabora. 



" NTieden, 1913, Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, vol. 7, p. 79. 



" Tornier, 1901, Aroh. Naturg.. vol. 67, p. 7t, text flg. 1. 



M Schmidt, 1919, Bull. .Viner. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 39, p. 519, text fig. 21. 



