THE AXNALS 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF NATCTRAL HISTORY. 



[FIFTH SERIES.] 



No. 92. AUGUST 1885. 



VIII. ^ — Remarks on the Geographical Distribution of the 

 Lacertilia. Bj Gr. A. BOULENGER. 



In the present article I do not intend to give a detailed account 

 of the geographical distribution of Lizards — a work which 

 has to be postponed until the revision of all the genera and 

 species is completed. But, general as these notes are, they 

 will, I trust, be sufficient to establish an important fact, viz. 

 the very great difference between the geographical distribu- 

 tion of Lizards and that of other groups of reptiles, and 

 especially of the Batrachians, of whose distribution I have 

 lately* treated. 



The accounts hitherto given of the geographical distribu- 

 tion of reptiles were founded upon material chiefly derived 

 from the works of Dumeril and Bibron and of Gray. It has 

 already been pointed out how artificial many of the syste- 

 matic groups adopted by these authors are, and I have 

 recently endeavoured to replace them by a more natural 

 arrangement. No one will deny that a classification based 

 on osteological as well as external cliaracters must lead to a 

 better understanding of the affinities of animals — affinities 

 which are so frequently concealed under superficial appeal-- 

 ances. 



* Cat. Batr. Grad. kc. p. 105. 

 Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol xvi. 7 



