396 



S AURIA. 



differs by its larger head, less-developed cephalic spines, and its 

 smaller abdominal scales. 



LOG. New Mexico. 



3. TAPAYA ORNATISSIMA, Grd. 



SPEC. CHAR. Head large, broad, and depressed ; vertex slightly 

 sloping forwards ; snout subacute. Cephalic plates small. Occi- 

 pital and temporal spines very short, subconical, and acerated. 

 Submaxillar shields rather small, ridged. Labial plates small, 

 except the four posterior lower ones, which are more developed, 

 flattened, acute, and projecting. Two pyramidal spines at the 

 angle of the mouth. Anterior margin of the auricular aperture 

 provided with a series of granules, larger than the surrounding 

 ones. Mental scales very small and uniform; prescapular and gular 

 folds minutely granular. Sides of the neck spinous. Abdominal 

 scales small, subrhomboid, posteriorly obtuse. Femoral pores 

 small : the series from either side widely separated upon the inter- 

 femoral region. Tail rather short, broad, and depressed at the 

 base, subconical, and attenuated posteriorly. Reddish-brown above, 

 with a double series of chestnut-yellowish, orange-margined blotches 

 over the body and tail, and specks of the same bright hue inter- 

 spersed between the darker spots and towards the sides. Beneath 

 yellowish, unicolor, else the abdomen and chin are maculated with 

 greyish-black. 



SYN. Phrynosoma orbiculare, HALLOW, in Sityr. Rep. Expl. Zuni & Color. Rivers, 

 1853, 125. PL viir & ix. 



OBSERV. The double row of dorsal spots, instead of being arranged 

 in pairs, as is usually the case in other species, and especially in T. 

 douglassi, have a proclivity to alternate, sometimes to a very marked 

 degree. 



LOG. Mountainous region of New Mexico. 



