74 BULLETIN 151, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



MABUYA VARIA (Peters) 



Euprepes (Euprepis) varius Peters, 1867, Monatsber. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 



p. 20 (Tette, Mozambique). 

 Mabuia varia Boulenger, 1887, Cat. Lizards Brit. Mus., vol. 3, p. 202. — Lover- 



iDGE, 1923, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 958. 



1 (U.S.N. M. 40694) Meru, K. C. (Sm. Afr. Exped.) 1909. 



17 (U.S.N.M. 40703, 40708, 40971, 40978-81, 41089, 43055-63) Mt. 



Kenya, K. C. (Sm. Afr. Exped.) 1909. 

 8 (U.S.N.M. 41367-9, 41926-30) Fort Hall, K. C. (Sm. Afr. Exped.) 



1909. 

 1 (U.S.N.M. 41674) Lake Naivasha, K. C. (Sm. Afr. Exped.) 1909. 

 1 (U.S.N.M. 41981) Nairobi, K. C. (Sm. Afr. Exped.) 1909. 

 14 (U.S.N.M. 42009-12, 49416-25) Aberdare Mtns., K. C. (HeUer) 



1911. 

 3 (U.S.N.M. 42029, 49084, 49453) Kenya Colony. (Heller) 1911. 

 1 (U.S.N.M. 42252) Near Nimule, U. (Sm. Afr. Exped.) 1910. 

 1 (U.S.N.M. 49227) Mt. Garguess, K. C. (Heller) 1911. 

 1 (U.S.N.M. 49230) Mt. Lololokwi, K. C. (Heller) 1911. 



This series of skinks is characterized by (1) spinose scales on 

 soles of feet except No. 42252, whose soles are similar to those of 

 hayonii] (2) the subocular is not much narrowed inferiorly where 

 there are only four labials anterior to it as in the majority of specimens 

 or where there are only three labials anterior to the subocular as in 

 No. 49423 or No. 43058, which is, however, normal on one side; 

 there are four specimens (Nos. 40971, 40978, 41926, 49419) which 

 possess four labials on one side and five on the other anterior to the 

 subocular; No. 49227 has five on both sides; (3) paired frontoparietals, 

 except No. 43059, which has a semidivided frontoparietal; (4) tri- 

 carinate dorsals; (5) short ear lobules except Nos. 41089, 41981, 

 and 49417 where they are longer or as long as those of the para type 

 of Methuen and Hewitt's M. varia longiloha (M. C. Z. 22478) from 

 Namaqualand. 



Following the publication of the report on the Uluguru and 

 Usambara reptiles in 1928, my friend Mr. Hewdtt wrote and remon- 

 strated with me for my share in placing M. varia var. longiloha in 

 the synonymy of M. varia varia and pointing out that he had 11 

 specimens from Namaqualand all provided vriih long lobules. I 

 promised to review my conclusions when reporting on the National 

 Museum collection of varia; in these, which with one exception are 

 from Kenya Colony, it will be observed that 6 per cent are of the 

 longiloha type. 



The collection of varia in the Museum of Comparative Zoology is 

 comprised of 44 specimens from 17 localities; the series are short, 

 mostly single examples in fact, except for one of 17 skinks from 

 Mtali's, Mkalama, Tanganyika Territo^^^ They may be separated 

 thus : 



