SAUR1AN.S. SI 



Anolius*, Cuv. 



The Anolis, together with the whole of the forms of the Iguanas, par- 

 ticularly of the marhled genus, have a very peculiar distinguishing cha- 

 racter: the skin of their toes is spread beneath the last phalanx but two 

 into an oval disk, which is striated transversely on the under part; this 

 disk assists them in adhering to various surfaces, to which they can also 

 very effectually cling, by means of their very hooked nails. Further, 

 they have the body and tail uniformly shagreened with small scales, and 

 the greater proportion of them have a dewlap or goitre under the throat, 

 which they can inflate and vary in colour when excited either by anger or 

 desire. Several of them enjoy the faculty of changing the colour of their 

 skin to an equal degree with the chameleon. Their ribs form entire cir- 

 cles like those of the Polychrus and Cameleon. Their teeth are trench- 

 ant and denticulate, as in Polychrus and Iguana, and they are even found 

 in the palate. The skin of their tail is doubled into slight folds or de- 

 pressions, each of which contains some circular rows of scales. This 

 genus appears to be peculiar to America. 



The tail of some is ornamented with a crest supported by the spinous 

 apophyses of the vertebras, as in Istiurus and Basiliscusf. 



An. velifer, Cuv. (The Great-Crested Anolis). A foot long; 

 a crest on the tail occupying half its length, supported by from twelve 

 to fifteen rays ; the dewlap extends under the belly. Its colour is a 

 blackish ash-blue. From Jamaica and the other Antilles. We have 

 found berries in its stomach. 



Lac. bimaculatra, Sparm. (The Little-Crested Anolis). Half 

 the size of the preceding; the same crest; greenish, dotted with 

 brown about the muzzle and on the flanks. From North America 

 and several of the Antilles. 



An. equestris, Merr. Fawn-colour, shaded with an ashy lilac; 

 a white band on the shoulder ; tail so fleshy that the apophyses of 

 its crest cannot be perceived; a foot long. 



Others again have a round tail, or one that is merely a little com- 

 pressed. Their species are numerous, and have been partly con- 

 founded under the names of Roquet, Goitreux, Romje-gorge, and 

 Anolis, — Lac. strumosa and buHaris, L. They inhabit the hot parts 

 of America and the Antilles, and change colour with astonishing fa- 

 cility, particularly in hot weather. When angry their dewlap be- 

 comes inflated and as red as a cherry. These animals are not so 

 large as the Grey Lizard of Europe, and feed most commonly on in- 



* Anoli, Anoalli, the name of these Saurians in the Antilles; Gronovius, very gra- 

 tuitously, has applied it to the Ameiva. Rochefort, from whose work it was taken, 

 only gives a copy of the Teyuaguaqit of Marcgrave, or the Great Sauvegarde of 

 Guiana. Nicholson seems to assert that this name is applied to several species, and 

 the one he describes appeirs to be the An. roquet, which, in fact, was sent to the Mu- 

 seum from Martinique under the name of /InoUs. M. M. de Jonnes has even ascer- 

 tained that it is the only one by which it is now known. 



t They have been confounded with each other, and with some of the following 

 ones, under the names of Luc. principalis and bimaculata. 



