144 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



caudal, and ventral scales are thin, smooth, and strongly 

 imbricate. A distinct ear-opening is present. Gular 

 and lateral dermal folds are absent. The tail is moder- 

 ately long. 



SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES. 



a. Light lines persistent, the upper pair separated by two and two half 

 rows of scales; head never red E. skiltonianus. p. 144. 



a' 2 . Light lines present in young only, upper pair separated by not more 

 than two rows of scales; head bright red in adults. 



E. gilbert!. p. 147. 



42. Eumeces skiltonianus (Baird & Girard). WESTERN 

 SKINK. 



Plestiodon skillonianum, BAIRD & GIRARD, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. 



Phila., VI, 1852, p. 69 (type locality Oregon); BAIRD & GIRARD, 



Stansbury's Exped. Gt. Salt Lake, 1853, p. 349, pi. IV, figs. 4-6. 

 Eumeces quadrilineaius, HALLOWELL, U. S. Pac. R. K. Surv., X, 1859, 



Pt. IV, p. 10, pi. IX, fig. 3 (type locality near Mojave River 



and in San Bernardino Valley, southern California). 

 Eumeces skiltonianus, COPE, Bull. D. S. Nat. Mus., No. 1, 1875, p. 



45. YARROW, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 24, 1883, p. 41; STEJ- 



NEGER, N. A. Fauna, No. 7, 1893, p, 201. 

 Eumeces hallowellii, BOCOURT, Miss. Sci. au Mex., Kept., 6 e , livr., 



1879, p. 435, pi. XXII E, fig. 7 (type locality California). 



Description. Body long and rounded, with long tail 

 and short legs. Nasal scute small, in contact with in- 

 ternasal, postnasal, first labial, and rostral plates. Post- 

 nasal touching nasal, internasal, anterior loreal, and 

 first and second labial plates. Anterior loreal forming 

 sutures with postnasal, internasal, (usually) frontonasal, 

 prefrontal, posterior loreal, and second and third labials. 

 Posterior loreal larger than anterior and bordered be- 

 hind by two preoculars and first superciliary. Four 

 large supraoculars, first three touching long frontal. 

 Interparietal larger than either frontoparietal, but very 

 narrow posteriorly and sometimes not separating 

 parietals. Parietals very large and followed by one or 

 two pair of wide occipitals. Temporal plates very 



