

12. SCELOPORUS 319 



Description. Head and body little depressed. Nostril 

 opening much nearer to end of snout than to orbit. Upper 

 head-shields smooth, moderately large and slightly convex; 

 interparietal largest. Frontal divided transversely. Parietal 

 and frontal plates separated from enlarged supraoculars by 

 a series of small plates or granules. Frontoparietal some- 

 times in contact with enlarged supraoculars, often separated 

 from them. Superciliaries long and strongly imbricate. 

 Middle subocular very long, narrow and strongly keeled. 

 Rostral plate of moderate height but great width. Labials 

 long, low and nearly rectangular. Symphyseal large and 

 pentangular. Enlarged sublabials separated from infralab- 

 ials, except first, by one or two series of smaller sublabials. 

 Gulars smooth, imbricate, often emarginate posteriorly. Ear- 

 opening large, slightly oblique, with anterior denticulation 

 of smooth, acuminate scales. Dorsal scales equal-sized, 

 keeled, mucronate, with slight denticulation, and arranged 

 in nearly parallel longitudinal rows. Lateral scales smaller 

 and directed obliquely upward. Upper and anterior sur- 

 faces of limbs with strongly keeled and mucronate scales. 

 Posterior surface of thigh with small, acuminate, keeled 

 scales. Ventral plates much smaller than dorsals, smooth, im- 

 bricate, and usually bicuspid. Tail furnished with slightly 

 irregular whorls of strongly keeled and pointed scales which 

 are much larger and rougher above than below, where they 

 are smooth proximally. Femoral pores varying in number 

 from 14 to 19; average in 55 thighs being 16.35. Nine to 12 

 dorsal scales equaling shielded part of head. Number of 

 scales in a row from interparietal plate to a line connecting 

 posterior surfaces of thighs varying from 43 to 48. Males 

 with enlarged postanal plates. 



The color above is grayish, brownish, or greenish blue, 

 with a series of dark brown blotches on each side of the back. 

 A pale longitudinal band separates the dorsal from the lat- 



