FAMILY I G U AN I D A. IGUANAS. 



101 



PYGOPUS. This genus is nearly allied to Bipes, from which it is distin- 

 guished by its members having only a single toe to each. 



TACHYDEOMUS. This genus of reptiles is distinguished from all other of 

 the Lizard family by liaviiig the body and tail verticillated. Their country 

 is not known. 



Family IGUANAS ; Iguanida. 



The Iguanas bear a strong resemblance to the Lizards in their general 

 conformation ; their tail is long, their toes are few and unequal, and their 

 eye and ear are also similar ; but they have thick tongues, non-extensile, 

 and notched only at the tip. 



Species. 



Common Name. 



Stcllio Vulgaris ----- Common Stellion. 



Draco Lineatus Striped Dragon. 



Iguana Tuberculata - - - Common Guana. 



Anolis ----- Capensis ----- Cape Anolis. 



Other Genera of this Family : Basilicns, Polychrus, Sitana, Trapelus, 

 Tropidurus, Uromastix. 



CHARACTERS OF THE GENERA. 



1. STELLIO (Lat. stella, a star). Head broad and depressed; mouth 

 wide ; jaws armed with a single row of very small close-set teeth, but 

 none in the palate ; tongue short, fleshy, and not extensible ; eyes very 

 large ; eyelids short ; body full, low on the limbs, the belly dependent and 

 more bulky in the middle; no dorsal crest; tail varying in length; feet 

 of moderate size, and toes of nearly equal length, sometimes expanded 

 wholly or partially, sometimes webbed, their retractile nails contained each 

 in a groove. 



2. DRACO (Gr. SpaKiav, a Dragon). Body covered with small scales; 

 two membranous wings ; head rounded, muzzle rather obtuse ; each jaw 

 provided with four small incisive teeth, and one long pointed cuspid, and a 

 dozen tricuspid molar teeth on each side ; a pendulous inflatable skin under 

 the throat, a smaller one on each side of the neck ; tail long, thin, and 

 flexible, covered obliquely with carinated scales, like the meshes of a net. 



3. IGUANA. Head slightly resembling a cone with four faces ; jaws 

 furnished with numerous narrow, triangular teeth, two other rows on the 

 back of the palate ; tongue fleshy, broad, notched at its tip, extensile ; 

 under the throat the skin is pendulous ; body and tail encircled with 

 numerous rings, each composed of several small squarish scales, overlap- 

 ping each other ; along the ridge of the back and the tail a row of thin 

 lancet-shaped spines ; legs strong, toes five on each foot, deeply cleft, and 

 tipped with strong hooked claws ; a row of tubercular follicles on the 

 thighs. 



4. ANOLIS. General characters same as before, with this distinguishing 

 peculiarity, that the skin of the toes widen under the antepenultimate 

 phalanx into an oval disk. 



For a general description of the " other Genera" see further on. 



IGUANIDA. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 



STELLIO. In the flatness and breadth of the head of these animals they 

 have some resemblance to the family of Crocodiles among Saurous reptiles, 

 but still more to the Tailed Batrachians, viz., the Tritons and Salamanders : 

 the tongue is distinguished from that of the Crocodiles by its breadth and 

 the slight cleft of its tip, which is free and capable of protrusion from the 

 mouth, but it is not completely protractile as in the Skinks and Lizards, 

 and more nearly in this respect resembles the family of the Iguanas. The 

 eyes have only cutaneous folds supplying the place of eyelids, which are 

 capable of retraction behind the ball of the eye, distinguishing them from 

 all others of the Saurous reptiles ; in many of them the pupil is vertical 

 and linear in a strong light, just as is the pupil of the Cat. 



The Common Stellio (S. Vulgaris) measures about a foot in length, and 

 is spread over the whole of the Levantine countries ; it is found concealed 

 in crevices of old walls, ruins, and masses of mouldering stones. Its general 

 colour is olive shaded with black, the under parts being yellow, or olive 

 yellow. It feeds on insects of all kinds. The Mahometans persecute and 



kill it with religious zeal, because of a curious motion of its head, which 

 they suporstitiously believe is in mockery of their bending down in their 

 devotional exercises. 



DRACO Dragon. The three species composing this genus, the Striped 

 Dragon (D. Lineatus), D. Viridis, and D. Fuscus, are remarkable for the 

 pair of wings or membranous expansions attached to the sides of the body, 

 which are produced by the six upper false ribs being extended laterally 

 instead of encircling the body, and covered with membrane; they are 

 moveable like a fan, upwards and downwards, at the will of the animal, 

 but when at rest they remain in the horizontal position. They are found 

 in the hottest regions of Africa and India. 



The Iguana. 



The Dragon. 



IGUANA. The Guanas 

 are natives of the Tor- 

 rid Zone, and vegetable 

 feeders; they are not 

 poisonous, but bite hard, 

 and will not quit their 

 hold till they have bitten 

 away the piece they 

 have caught in their 

 teeth. Five species are 

 enumerated. 



The illustrated species (Plate 3) is the Common Guana (I. Tubercu- 

 lata), a native of Brazil, Cayenne, the Antilles, and the Bahamas ; it grows 

 to a considerable size, sometimes measuring six feet in length, including the 

 tail. Its flesh is eaten and esteemed by many as a luxury, it being delicate 

 and easy of digestion ; indeed it formed at one time a great part of the 

 subsistence of the inhabitants of the Bahama Islands. They feed on vege- 

 tables and fruit, and on a particular fungus which grows at the roots of 

 some trees. Their general colour is dark green, tinged with olive, and 

 occasionally with blue ; the tail is mixed alternately with brown and green, 

 and the sides of the neck are covered with tubercles. 



ANOLIS. This is an American genus, of which there are, according to 

 Bibron, twenty-five distinct species. They are insectivorous, but sometimes 

 satiate their hunger with berries ; they are very timid, restless, and curious, 

 fond of music, of which boys take advantage in order to catch them, which 

 they do by throwing a loop over their head, having first arrested their 

 attention with musical sounds. They frequent woods and rocky places, 

 running or leaping with much agility ; they are small and of slender make : 

 their toes furnished with hooked claws assist them in climbing the branches 

 of trees, or in making their way over stones. The skin of the throat forms 

 a pendulous dewlap, capable of being inflated, which is always the case 

 when the animal is excited through fear or anger. In one species, the 

 Anolis Bvllaris, the dewlap when dilated is of a bright cherry red. 



Cape Anolis (A. Capensis) is figured on Plate 3. 



Cuvier has subdivided them into, 1. Broad-fingered; 2. Half-fingered; 

 3. Furrowed-fingered ; 4. Fan-fingered; and 5. Broad-tailed Geckos. See 

 Gecko. 



BASILISCUS. This genus consists of two species, the Basilisk (B. Cucul- 

 latus), and the Ambonia Basilisk (B. Amboinensis). They have a sharp 

 scaly crest or fin supported by the vertebral spines, and extending more 

 or less along the back and tail, and attached probably to the spinous pro- 

 cesses of the vertebrae, and which is capable of being elevated or depressed 

 at pleasure. 



