HAUNTS AND HABITATS 41 



Ceylon, and also known (although perhaps introduced) in the 

 south of Spain. Madagascar appears to be the headquarters 

 of the group. The geckos {Geckonidce, etc.) are practically 

 cosmopolitan, exclusive of the colder regions of the globe. 

 Another cosmopolitan family is that of the skinks {Scincidce) 

 whose headquarters are Australasia, with representatives in 

 New Zealand. 1 The stellions (Agamida?), monitors ( Var midce) 

 and typical lizards (LacertidtB) are confined to the eastern 

 hemisphere ; the latter having, however, a much more restricted 

 range than the other two, not entering the Australasian region, 

 and being likewise unknown in Madagascar. The latter island 

 and New Zealand have no stellions or monitors, which are 

 otherwise distributed over the greater part of the warmer zones 

 of the eastern hemisphere. 



On the other hand, the iguanas (Iguanidce) form an essenti- 

 ally American group, which attains its maximum development 

 in the tropical districts ; but it has three outlying generic types, 

 two of which occur in Madagascar, and the third in the Fiji and 

 Friendly Islands. 2 Extinct forms, as already mentioned, are 

 known from the European Tertiaries. The amphisbaenas 

 {Amphisbcenidce) have a wider range, occurring in America, the 

 West Indies, Africa (but not Madagascar), and the Mediter- 

 ranean countries ; a very puzzling distribution, which is in no 

 wise rendered more easy of explanation by the suggestion that 

 these burrowing lizards are related to the tropical American 

 family of tejus {TeiidcE). Finally, the slow-worms (Anguidce) 

 are distributed over Europe, Northern Africa, Northern India, 

 and the warmer parts of America: while their less specialised 

 relatives the girdle-tailed lizards {Zonuridce) take their place 

 in Africa south of the Sahara and Madagascar. 



Apart from the tuatera of New Zealand, Australasia is seen 

 to be inhabited only by geckos, skinks, stellions, and monitors ; 

 and thus exhibits none of that marked relationship to South 



1 In the volume on reptiles in the Cambridge Natural History it is stated 

 (p. 500) that there are no skinks in New Zealand. There are, however, for ex- 

 ample, two species of Lygosoma (see Cat. Rept. Brit. Mus. Hi., pp. 271 and 272). 



2 In the work cited in the last note it is suggested that these eastern iguanas 

 are not Iguanidce at all, but have attained a resemblance to that family by " con- 

 vergence ". If resort be had to such an explanation in all cases of difficulty, it 

 would tend to show that our present schemes of classification are practicallv 

 valueless. 



