THE FAMILY AGAMID^ 



are, as a rule, eminently quadrupedal ; they progress 

 as we have already observed, slung between their fore 

 and hind limbs like an eighteenth- century coach be- 

 tween its hind and fore wheels. When bounding 

 over level ground the frilled lizard abandons the use 

 of its fore limbs, and hops kangaroo-like for yards 

 together before coming to rest. This odd mode of 

 progression is normal, remarks Mr. Savile Kent, " when 

 the animal is traversing level ground for any distance." 

 and the distance so travelled may be as much as thirty 

 or forty feet without a stop. It then rests for a bit 

 on all fours and afterwards resumes its leaping progress. 

 It has been justly pointed out that in this the Chlamy 

 dosaurus reminds us of the extinct Dinosaurians, a race 

 of reptiles of all sizes from eighty feet or so to a foot or 

 two, which flourished in long bygone ages, and have 

 left no living trace of themselves to-day. But the 

 recollection of the similar mode of progression of some 

 of these dinosaurs must not lead to the view that the 

 Chlamy dosaurus is their long lost heir. The modern 

 group of lizards has not much in common with those 

 great reptiles of the past, who are much more nearly 

 related among living animals to the crocodiles and to 

 birds. 



The family of the agamidae, to which this lizard 

 belongs, represent as it were the iguanas of the New 

 World in the Old, and they are especially common in 

 Australia. There are over 200 species of them placed 

 in many genera of which several are usually on view at 

 the Zoo. Uromastix, with its spiny tail, is perhaps 

 the one most commonly to be seen ; but the Australian 

 Amphibolous, the "Jew lizard," with its "Newgate 

 fringe " of thick spines, is also at times accommodated 

 in the Reptile House. The agamidae are, as has been 

 mentioned, by no means unlike the iguanas, and it 

 is at least a curious coincidence that in both families 



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