2" 
LACERTA MURALIS IN WESTERN EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA. old 
the authority of Bedriaga, not having been able to examine specimens of that form), 
and var. tiliguerta (subsp. neapolitana Bedtr.). 
The question whether the third assemblage represents a distinct species or should 
be regarded as formed of one or more subspecies or varieties of the true L. muralis 
has remained an open question. But a better understanding of the second form has 
led recent workers! to the conclusion that it is only a slight modification of the 
typical form, leading gradually to the more southern var. nigriventris of Bonaparte, 
with which it has even been proposed to unite it. 
The identity of the brown ZL. muralis of Northern and Middle Italy with the lizard 
occurring north of the Alps has never been questioned ; and there is, in fact, no means 
of telling one from the other. An excellent description, with figures, of this form 
will be found in Camerano’s ‘Monograph of the Lizards of Italy’, based chiefly 
on specimens from Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Venetia, Tuscany, and Umbria. 
Some of the specimens from Liguria evidently belong to the var. brueggemanni, and 
the determination of the specimens from Naples*, Malta, and Linosa need revision. 
Bedriaga’s var. brueggemanni and Bonaparte’s var. nigriventris were placed by Camerano 
in the synonymy of Z. serpa. 
In his diagnosis of LZ. muralis, Camerano gives the depth of the head in the 
tympanic region as equal to the distance between the posterior border of the eye 
and the tympanum; while in ZL. genei and L. serpa, which he regards as specifically 
distinct, this depth is stated to equal the distance between the anterior border or the 
centre of the eye and the tympanum. Most of the Italian LZ. muralis f. typica 
examined by me agree with the majority of Central-Kuropean specimens in having 
the depth of the head equal to the distance between the centre of the eye and the 
tympanum *, but a few from Turin and Genoa agree with Camerano’s definition. The 
hind limb may reach the collar in males °. 
I here give particulars of some of the specimens (typical form) examined :— 
' 
i Z. 3. 4, 5}. 6. fic 
Domo d’Ossola Gu G52 I) 25) LO ear 0 198 
ee 7 g 5Sp 60 27 8 27 238-21 2 
Turin GH 56F 20, SONS 23 1 
ee gee 3, 68) 68: 9-255 11 285. Seer 2 
Pte eee ho, 57 58 28 | BBN AIS 
” MEM) bee ee ss, = Ot) 6 OOS e290 8 22) 23-2 Al 
* Lehrs, Zool. Anz. 1902, p. 227; Méhely, Ann. Mus. Hung. ii. 1904, p. 365. 
* Mem. Ace, Torin. (2) xxxvii. 1885, p. 518. 
* This, Count Peracca informs me, is probably referable to the var. brueggemannt. 
“ The same observation has been made on numerous specimens from Rome (var. nigriventris) by Positano 
Spada, Boll. Soc. Rom. i. 1902, p. 90. 
* Specimens from Turin and Florence. 
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