574 



THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



fhttt by W. P. Dand 



TUBERCULATED IGUANA 

 This species is esteemed for food by American Indians 



interest in some neighbour's hen- 

 roost, and received across its tail a 

 stroke with a spade or other cutting 

 instrument that was intended for a 

 more vital region. Disgusted by such 

 unfriendly treatment, it evidently 

 determined that free board and lodg- 

 ing at the hands of its former owner, 

 albeit with the sacrifice of freedom, 

 was a pleasanter line of life than 

 liberty and a precarious commissariat, 

 with added bodily risks. An almost 

 identical episode of the voluntary 

 return to captivity of an escaped 

 monitor has been reported to the 

 writer of a species from Borneo by 

 Dr. G. D. Haviland. 



The monitors, as a rule, are not 



distinguished for brilliancy of colouring, shades and mottlings of brown or black being usually 

 dominant. The male of the Australian lace-lizard, after 

 newly changing its coat, is, however, an exception. In 

 addition to the highly ornate lace-like reticulated pattern 

 of its skin-markings, previously referred to, the throat of the 

 animal is resplendent with mingled tints of sky-blue and 

 lemon-yellow. It is necessary, however, to observe that its 

 natural surroundings and the ardent rays of a sub-tropical 

 sun are requisite to bring these brighter tints to their full 

 development. Examples kept in close confinement in the 

 London Zoological Gardens yield little or no indication of 

 their colour potentialities. 



While the Monitor Family is net represented on the 

 American Continent, we find there another group of lizards 

 whose members are of considerable size, and agree in their 

 carnivorous propensities and general habits in a marked manner with the Monitors. These 

 are the " GREAVED " LIZARDS, named with reference to the peculiar skin-folding on their 

 legs. One of the largest and most familiarly known representatives of this group is the 

 TEGUEXIN, or DIAMOND-LIZARD, indigenous to the greater portion of tropical South America, 

 and also to the West Indies. This lizard attains to a total length of a yard or more, 



,,and is of a robust and 

 thick-set build, with the 

 hind limbs much longer and 

 stouter than the front ones. 

 The colour of the teguexin is 

 also notable, the ground-tint 

 being olive or tawny yellow, 

 upon which are superimposed 

 black bands and markings 

 which for the most part take 

 a transverse direction. Like 



,//,,,.] lEMhum. the Monitors, the tuguexin 



WALL- LIZARD in captivity exhibits a sulky 



This species is particularly abundant in Italy and aggressive disposition, 



Photo by E. C. Atkinson 



SMALL VIVIPAROUS LIZARD 



Occurs on heaths and commons in the South of 

 England 



L, , 



fhtu b) 11. G. f. Sfur 



