BIHANG TILL K. SV. VET.-AOAD. HANDL. BAND 26. AFD. IV. NIO 1. 15 



Lacerta punctata. 



Linnseiis in M^is. Ad. Frid. /, p. 46; Syst. Nat. Ed. X, p. 209. 



In the museum there is one jar, containing two lizards 

 with the name -»Lacerta», printed on a small label, on which 

 has afterwards been written nnter2)unctata>\ The jar is also 

 provided with a label from Quensel marked: nnter punctata? 

 1075. Asia.-!> In accordance with Gmelin's edition af Systema 

 Naturce Quensel uses the name Lacerta interpunctata instead 

 of Linn8eus's L. punctata. In his catalogue he mentions one* 

 specimen as kept in the museum, and which he states to be 

 from Drottningholm, but says besides: ■»Licet e DrtJim sit hoc 

 indivicluum tamen non oiHime cum descriptione Linncei convenit». 



Probably it is Linn8eus's statement about 18 rows of dark 

 spöts on the type specimen (6 on the back and 6 on each 

 side) that caused Quensel to make this remark, as Linn8eus's 

 other statements well correspond to the specimens; but on 

 closer examination of these we find that it is not impos- 

 sible to explain even this Linnean character. There are 

 namely on the back two rows of broad spöts, each of which 

 is divided into three parts, one large middle one, occupying 

 one scale, and two narrower laterals, somewhat separated 

 from the middle one, which are the dark coloured edges of 

 bordering scales. By this we get six rows of spöts on the 

 back, and in the same way we could possibly divide the broad 

 dark band över the yellow line along the side, but it is 

 more difficult to explain the narrow dark coloured edge that 

 borders the same line below, as being composed of three dif- 

 ferent rows. At some places we find however small dark 

 spöts below the distinct dark line, which spöts formerly 

 might have been more distinct, and therefore considered by 

 Linnffius to be real rows of spöts. This explaining of Lin- 

 n8eus's many rows of spöts is confirmed by his reference to 

 the figure in Sebas Thesaurus 2. 2 fig. 9, where these rows 

 are just as indistinct as on these specimens. 



I thus believe that these specimens, or at least one of 

 them, (they are very similar to each other) really have been 

 Linn8eus's types for Lacerta punctata. They are both true 



^ Ås shown above, this number differs from the present one, but Quen- 

 sers catalogue does not seem to be verv trustworthy in regard to the num- 

 ber of specimens. (See L. G. Andersson: Cat. of Linn. type-specimens of 

 snakes in Bihang till K. Vet.-Akad. Handl. Band 24. Afd. IV. p. 4.) 



