Lacerta. 99 



of the snout, i to \ the length of the pileus, 1^ to 1 J times as lon;cj as 

 broad, as broad as or broader than the supraocular region, trilobate 

 iu front in adult males ; frontoparietals usually longer tlian the 

 frontal ; parietals li to 2 times as long as broad ; interparietal 

 narrow, as long as or shorter* than the occipital, which is large 

 or very large, as long as broad or broader than long, and usually 

 broader than the frontal, t sometimes just as broad or a little narrower, 

 sometimes longitudinally divided into two or separated from the inter- 

 parietal by a small shield, rarely broken up into several irregular 

 shields. This description of the upper head-shields applies to adult 

 specimens. The young differ more considerably than in other species 

 of Lacerta ; the frontonasal is always broader than long ; the pre- 

 frontals form a short median suture ; the frontal is much narrower 

 than the supraocular region and twice as long as broad, its length 

 only 3 to 3^ times in the length of the pileus ; the frontoparietals are 

 shorter than the frontal and not larger than the interparietal ; the 

 occipital is shorter than the interparietal and about twice as broad 

 as long+ ; the upper temporals are devoid of a keel. 



Four supraoculars, first small or very small, in contact with the 

 second loreal, second and third large, fourth small but larger than the 

 first, rarely divided into two, and nearly always forming a suture Avith 

 the first upper temporal ; 5 or 6, exceptionally 7, superciliaries, first 

 longest ; a complete or incomplete series of granules, sometimes 

 reduced to 5, between the supraoculars and the superciliaries. Two 

 superposed postnasals, the upper nearly always in contact with the 

 prefrontal § ; anterior loreal 1^ to 2 times as deep as long,|| much 

 shorter than the second,*^ sometimes in contact with the frontonasal** ; 



* A little longer in a male from Silos. 



t I have never seen the occipital of snch enormous dimensions (fully twice 

 as broad as the frontal), as figured by Schreiber (op. cit.). 



X Bedriaga states that the occipital is divided into 5 or 7 shields in the very 

 young, and he supposes that these fuse into one as the lizard grows. He must 

 have based his statement on abnormal specimens, for the very young examined 

 by me have the shield entire, with the exception of one from Silos in which it 

 is divided into three, as may be found in the adult. Other examples of abnormal 

 division have been figured by Dugps. 



§ Sepai-ated from it by a small shield in a male from Valdeblore, and in 

 another from Madrid (Paris Museum). 



! Absent in a male from Montpellier, on one side in a female from Antibes. 

 Two superposed shields in a male from Xice. 



■[ Which is divided into two by a horizontal suture in a male from Villa 

 Franca and in a male and a young from Silos. 



** In a half-grown specimen from Arlac, two small shields se^mrate the 

 upper postnasal and the anterior loreal fi-om the frontonasal. 



