ALLIED TO LACERTA MUEALIS. 9 



bo the case in L. fraasii, known from a single specimen, which appears to be very 

 closely related to L. vivipara, some specimens of which have nearly smooth dorsal 

 scales and the parietal shield excluded from contact with the upper postocular. 



In L. agilis, as in L. vivipara, the superciliaries and the supraoculars are in contact 

 with each otiier, only in rare cases are a few granules intercalated between them. 

 The absence of grannies is retained in many specimens of typical L. viridis, in 

 L. peluponnesiaca, and, as an exception, in L. taur/ca^ in other species a more or 

 less complete series of granules separates the superciliaries from the supraoculars, 

 and in the extreme form L. oxyccphala the series is often partly double, whilst 

 the first supraocular shows a tendency to break up into small scales. In some 



Text-figure 3. 



a 



Temporal lepidosis in Lacerta agilis {a. Bournemouth, 6, Farnham, c. Southport), L. parva (J), 



L. Icevis (e), and L. jai/alcari (/). 



species of allied genera, such as Acanthodactylus and Eremias, the disintegration 

 of the borders of the supraoculars into small scales or granules may be carried 

 further still. 



In L. agilis the temple usually bears very large shields, few in number, but there is 

 much variation, as may be seen from text-fig. 3; in L. parca a finer scaling is the 

 rule, and, as we proceed in the L. muralis series, we reach a stage in which the 

 temple is covered with minute granules, with or without a central (masseteric) shield, 

 which can be traced back to L. agilis. The large upper temporal shields and the 

 tympanic shield may also become reduced or disappear entirely through breaking 

 up into scales. The upper temporal shields, primarily two in number, are deeper in 

 Jj. agilis, and also in L. viridis, tlian in any other species, and are situated i>artly 

 on the upper surface of the head (where the anterior forms a suture with the fourth 



VOL. XXI. — P.\RT I, No. '2. — June, 191G. c 



