i3° 



LIZARDS. 



sentative groups. There are, however, certain iguanoids, such as the anolis 

 lizards and the sea-lizards which have no representatives in the preceding family. 

 The majority of the iguanoids feed on insects, although some, like the true 

 iguanas and the sea-lizards, subsist on a vegetable diet, while one genus is stated 

 to be omnivorous. Only two genera are known to produce living young. 



In the forests, groves, and gardens of all the warmer regions of 

 America live a number of beautiful lizards commonly known by the 

 name of anolis, which is applied in the Antilles to some members of the group. 

 The distinctive features of these lizards are the pyramidal form of the head, the 

 moderately long neck, the presence of a broad and generally brilliantly-coloured 

 appendage on the throat of the males, the slender body, which may be either com- 



Anolis Lizards. 



RED-THROATED ANOLIS (nat. size) 



pressed, cylindrical, or slightly depressed, the relatively long hind-limbs, the large 

 feet, in which the toes are of very unequal length, and their middle joints expanded, 

 with smooth transverse plates on the under surface, and the long, curved, and sharp 

 claws, which are raised above the level of the expanded joints. The tail is long and 

 hard, although not prehensile ; the covering of very minute scales on the back and 

 tail is not unfrequently elevated to form a crest ; the cheek-teeth are characterised 

 by their distinctly tricuspid crowns ; and teeth are generally present on the pterygoid 

 bones of the palate. Lastly, these lizards possess the power of changing their 

 colour to even a greater extent than is the case with the chameeleons. From 

 among more than one hundred species belonging to the genus we select for 

 illustration the red-throated anolis (Anolis carolinensis), which inhabits the 

 South-Eastern United States and Cuba, and presents the following distinctive 

 features. The head, which is long, triangular, and depressed, is nearly smooth in 



