SCALED REPTILES LIZARDS. 40? 



been observed by the natives, has led them to regard it as sacred, and not to 

 be injured without danger of drought." All lay eggs, and many, if not all 

 the species, feed largely upon the eggs of birds. 



A much larger assemblage is that of the greaved lizards of the New World, 

 which there occupy the position held in the Old World by the allied family of 

 the LacertidcB. From all the preceding forms, the Teiidce and 

 following families are broadly distinguished by the circum- Greaved Liz- 

 stance that their cleft and often spear-like tongues are covered ards. Family 

 either with overlapping scale-like papillae, or are marked by Teiidce. 



oblique folds. Then, again, in place of the small scales of 

 the Varanidce, the head is invested with large symmetrically arranged shields; 

 and in the skeleton the inner extremities of the collar-bones are expanded, 

 and not unfrequently assume a looped form. The Teiidce, of which there 

 are five-and-thirty genera, and more than a hundred species have the head- 

 shields free from the bones of the skull, no bony plates underlying the scales, 

 and no bony roof to the hinder lateral regions of the skull, while the scales 

 are arranged in transverse rows. The teeth are very variable in form and 

 structure, but are always solid at the base, owing to the circumstance that 

 their successors come up alongside, The teeth in the front of the jaws are 

 always conical ; but both these and the lateral series may be attached either 

 on the acrodont or pleurodont plan. Distinct eyelids are generally present ; 

 the drum of the ear is always visible externally >, and the tongue is in most 

 cases covered with overlapping scales, and may be capable of retraction 

 within a basal sheath. Although most of these lizards have five-toed limbs, 

 in certain cases each foot has but four toes, while in other instances the limbs 

 are represented only by stumps, and even all external traces of the hinder 

 pair may disappear. The numerous representatives of this important family 

 have their headquarters in equatorial America, although some forms may be 

 met with throughout the warmer portions of that continent. Like the 

 monitors, they are active in their habits, and feed upon animal substances ; 

 but they may be found in all sorts of situations, some living in holes in dry 

 sandy districts, while others prefer the dense herbage of moist localities. 

 The number of genera is far too great to admit of even mention in this place. 

 It will accordingly suffice to take as our representative of the family the large 

 and handsome species commonly known as the tegu (Tupinambis tequexin\ 

 which is a common and widely-spread 

 species, ranging from the Guianas in the 

 North to Uruguay in the South. Measur- 

 ing about three feet in length, this lizard 

 has a bold and striking bearing, owing to 

 the elevation of the fore-quarters. Its 

 general colour is some shade of olive 

 above, ornamented with blotches and bars 

 of black, and indistinct longitudinal rows 

 of light spots. It is met with in great 

 numbers among the virgin forests of _ 



Amazonia, where, with its forked tongue ^ _ THE TEQU 

 in rapid motion, it may be seen either tequexin). 



sitting quietly upon a branch, or running 

 rapidly over the ground. As is the case with some of the other members of 

 the family, its flesh is esteemed as food by the natives. 



As already mentioned, certain members of the preceding family have lost 



