THE AGAMOID LIZARDS 2483 



the spines of the vertebrae of that region. The body is markedly compressed, the 

 back has a low crest, and the throat has both longitudinal puckerings and a trans- 

 verse fold in the skin, while the aperture of the ear is exposed. In form, the head 

 is short and thick, the compressed tail is long and powerful, and the legs and feet 

 are also strong, the toes of the latter being covered inferiorly with small granular 

 scales, and at the sides, especially externally, with a fringe of large united scales, 

 which is one of the distinctive features of the genus. The covering of the upper parts 

 is in the form of small quadrangular scales, which are keeled on the head and back. 

 The dentition comprises six small conical teeth in the front of the jaws, four long 

 tusks, and thirteen cheek teeth. On the thighs there is a row of pores. At- 

 taining a length of over a yard, the sail-tailed lizard is of a general olive-brown 

 color, becoming greenish on the head and neck, and spotted and marbled with 

 black; while an oblique fold in the skin on the front of the shoulder is deep black. 

 Originally brought to Europe from Amboyna, this curious lizard is an inhabit- 

 ant of the Philippines, Java, Celebes, and the Moluccas; it is arboreal in its habits, 

 and is generally found in wood or scrub in the neighborhood of water. Its food 

 consists of seeds, leaves, flowers, and berries, as well as worms, myriapods, and 

 other > creatures found in damp situations. If frightened, this lizard immediately 

 dives into the water, and endeavors to conceal itself among the stones at the bot- 

 tom, where, however, it may be readily captured with a net, or even with the 

 hand, as it makes not the slightest attempt at defense. Its eggs are laid in the 

 sand of the river banks. By the natives the creature is hunted for the sake of its 

 flesh, which is white and well flavored, and consequently much appreciated. 



Quite a different type of tail to that of the last is presented by the 

 _ .. . thorny-tailed lizards, of which there are seven species, inhabiting arid 

 Lizards tracts in Northern Africa and Southwestern Asia. From the whole 

 of the foregoing members of the present family, these lizards are 

 sharply distinguished by the circumstance that the front teeth, instead of being 

 small and conical, are large, and in the adult are united into one or two broad cut- 

 ting teeth, separated from those of the cheek series by a gap; while externally they 

 are easily recognized by their short tails covered with well-defined rings of spiny 

 scales. The head is remarkably short and rounded; the body, as in most terrestrial 

 members of the family, is much depressed, and there is no crest along the back. 

 There are no folds or pouches on the neck, but pores are present both in front of the 

 vent and on the thighs, and the aperture of the ear is exposed. The Arabian thorny- 

 tail, or dabb, as it is termed by the Arabs (Uromastix spinipei), is one of the 

 best-known members of the genus, and inhabits Egypt, Crete, and Arabia. It be- 

 longs to a group characterized by the rings of spiny scales on the upper surface of 

 the tail being in juxtaposition; while, in common with two other species, it is spe- 

 cially distinguished by the circumstance that two or more transverse rows of scales on 

 the lower surface of the tail correspond with one on its upper aspect. The Arabian 

 species, which attains a length of about eighteen inches, differs from its two nearest 

 allies in the minute size of the scales covering the body, coupled with the presence 

 of a few scattered somewhat larger tubercular scales on the flanks. Its color is 

 either sandy gray, or greenish above, which may be either uniform or clouded with 



