xii GERRHOSAURIDAE SCINCIDAE 559 



beautifully coloured. The upper parts are bronzy brown with 

 one or two golden, dark-edged, lateral streaks ; the under parts 

 are whitish ; the male has one or more blue-eyed spots above 

 each shoulder. 



Acanthodactylus is distinguished by the laterally fringed 

 digits. This genus ranges throughout Northern Africa to the 

 Punjab. One species, A. vulgaris, extends into Spain and 

 Portugal. The dorsal scales are small and almost smooth, but 

 those on the tail are strongly keeled ; the ventrals are much 

 broader than long, and are arranged in eight to ten rows. The 

 fringes on the digits are but feebly developed in the shape of 

 lateral denticulations. The adults are grey-brown with faint 

 longitudinal stripes, and with more conspicuous black and pale 

 spots ; in the breeding season larger blue-eyed spots appear on the 

 sides near the limbs. The tail is often pink, especially on the 

 under surface. Total length about 7 inches. 



Fam. 12. Gerrhosauridae. Pleurodont African Lacertidae 

 with osteoderms on the head and body. 



This family is intermediate between the Lacertidae and 

 the Scincidae. The tongue, is constructed like that of the 

 Lacertidae, but is only feebly nicked anteriorly. Dermal ossifi- 

 cations roof over the temporal region, and femoral pores are 

 present. On the other hand, the osteoderms, which cover the 

 whole body, are in their structure and arrangement typically 

 Scincoid. The tail is long and fragile. A lateral fold is 

 usually present. The limbs are sometimes reduced to useless 

 stumps. The few genera and species of this family are strictly 

 confined to the African sub-region, being found in the whole of 

 Africa south of the Sahara, and in Madagascar. 



Gerrhosaurus, with a strongly developed lateral fold and 

 complete limbs, occurs in Africa. G. flavigularis, of South Africa, 

 has a total length about one foot. 



Tetradactylus, of South Africa, has also a strong lateral fold, 

 but the limbs are either very short and pentadactyle (T. seps), 

 or tetradactyle, or they are minute pointed stumps, as in T. 

 africanus. 



Fam. 13. Scincidae. Pleurodont lizards with strongly de- 

 veloped osteoderms on head and body, with very feebly nicked, 

 scaly tongue, with complete cranial arches, and with separated 

 premaxillaries. 



