200 



S A U R I A. 



out seeing, however, the necessity of subdividing it according to the 

 method of John Edward Gray, for we perceive no material difference 

 between his diagnoses of Lacerta and Teira, except in the number of 

 the rows of abdominal scutellae, which, so far, is but a relative and 

 not an absolute character. As to the palatine teeth, we are not in- 

 formed as to whether their presence or absence can be of any assist- 

 ance in the classification of the present group. 



LACERTA MADERENSIS, Fitz. 

 (Plate XXIV, figs. 1-8.) 



SPEC. CHAR. No palatine teeth. Abdominal scutellae six-rowed. 

 Necklace composed of eleven or thirteen smooth scales, with even 

 edge. Temporal scales smooth. Caudal scales obscurely keeled 

 anteriorly, more conspicuously so posteriorly. About twenty pores 

 under each thigh, constituting a very close series, interrupted upon 

 the interfemoral region. 



SYN. Lacerta maderensis, FITZ. Neue Glass. Kept. 1826, 51. 



Lacerta duyesii, MILN. EDW. Ann. Sc. Nat. XVI, 1829, 84, PI. vr, fig. 2. DOM. & 

 BIBR. Erpet. gen. V, 1839, 236. 



Teira punctata, GRAY, Ann. Nat. Hist. I, 1838, 286 ; &, Catal. Lizz. Brit. Mus. 

 1845, 33. 



OBSERV. We have a complete series of specimens of various ages 

 before us, all agreeing well in their structure. The color is liable to 

 some variations, the extremes of which are observed in the very young 

 and the old ; it is more or less faded in the specimens preserved in alco- 

 hol. Judging of it from a colored sketch made from life in September, 

 1838, the middle region of the back is dark greenish-brown, densely 

 spotted with black. A narrow reddish-brown vitta separates the dorsal 

 from the lateral region, which is very dark, almost black, speckled with 

 white. The upper surface of the head, limbs, and tail is olivaceous- 

 brown, also spotted with black, and speckled with white. The infe- 

 rior regions are of a uniform greenish hue, with occasional black dots 

 under the chin and thighs. 



Loc. Island of Madeira, where it is reported to be common. 



