186 Lacertidiv. 



Body rather st rouglv depressed. Head moderately depressed, li to 

 1| times as loug as broad, its depth equal to the distance between the 

 anterior corner or the centre of the eye and the tympanum, its length 

 34- to 3q- times in length to vent in males, 4 to 4j times in females ; 

 snout pointed, as long as the postocular part of the head, with sharp 

 canthus and concave loreal region ; a lanceolate concavity on the upper 

 surface of the snout and the anterior half of tlie frontal ; a strong 

 keel below the eye. Pileus 2 to 2J times as long as broad. Neck as 

 broad as or a little narrower than the head. The hind limb reaches 

 between the shoulder and the ear in males, the axil or the shoulder in 

 females ; foot a little longer than the head ; digits feebly compressed. 

 Tail 1^ to 2 times as long as head and body. 



Upper head-shields strongly and coarsely striated and keeled ; 

 nostril between three shields; nasals forming a suttire behind the 

 rostral ; frontonasal broader than long ; prefrontals longer than broad, 

 not reaching the first large supraocular, forming an extensive median 

 suture ; frontal as long as or a little shorter than its distance f i om the 

 end of the snout, If to 2;^ times as long as broad, narrower behind 

 than in front ; parietals longer than broad, rounded behind ; inter- 

 parietal as large as the frontoparietals, in contact with or narrowly 

 separated from a much shorter occipital, the posterior border of which 

 is rounded and projects beyond the parietals. Two large supra- 

 oculars, preceded and followe<l by small keeled scales ; first supra- 

 ocular as long as or a little shorter than its distance from the posterior 

 loreal, in contact with the posterior half of the frontal, second sometimes 

 narrowly in contact with the parietal ; 4 or 5 superciliai-ies, first longest 

 and forming a very oblique suture with the second ; 1 or 2 series of 

 granular scales between the supraoculars and the superciliaries. Lower 

 nasal broadly in contact with the rostral ; postnasal small, between 

 the upper and lower nasals; anterior loreal as long as or a little 

 shorter than second ; 4, rarely 5, upper labials anterior to the sub- 

 ocular, which is much narrower beneath than above, and borders 

 the mouth.* A large upper temporal ; temporal scales rather large, 

 hexagonal, strongly keeled ; a narrow tympanic shield. Lower eyelid 

 with a series of vertically enlarged scales in the middle. 



5 pairs of chin-shiehls, the 3 anterior in contact in the middle ; 

 gular scales imbricate, passing gradually into the ventral plates, 19 to 

 23 in a straight median line. 



Dorsal scales rhombic-lanceolate, strongly keeled, acutely pointed 

 or shortly mucronate, nearly as large as upper caudals ; lateral scales 



* In a male from Moeleni the lower part of the subocular is cut off to form 

 a siipplomontary labial as in I. sqxianiMloi^o. 



