AND BATEACHIANS OF BAUBAET. 119 



from gular fold to vent, round in the female, very feebly compressed in the male 

 covered with whorls of strongly keeled, spinose scales. Male with a row of anal pores- 

 Bronzy olive or leather-brown above, the vertebral line sometimes yellowish, sometimes 

 with darker and lighter spots ; tail with dai-k annuli ; whitish or greyish beneath, the 

 male's throat bluish. Young with three dorsal series of whitish dark-edged ocelli. 



From snout to vent 110 millim., tail 150. 



This species was founded upon specimens from Mogador. Boettger records it from 

 Tangier (whence the British Museum has also received specimens through M. Henry 

 Vaucher) and between Mogador and Morocco, and states that it is very common on the 

 plateau between Ain-Umest and Sidi-Moktar. In Algeria it is on record from Tlemsen, 

 Bou-Saada, and the Mzab (StmucJi); the Chotts of the Province of Oran (Gervais); 

 and Saida, eastern frontier of Algeria {Guichenot). According to M. Lataste it is only 

 found in the stony j)arts of the Sahara in the Provinces of Algiers and Constantine ; he 

 obtained specimens in the Mzab, at Laghouat, at Bou-Saada, and at Cachrou, near Oran. 

 It has not yet been found in Tunisia. 



2. Uromastix, Merrem, 1820. 



Incisors large, uniting in the adult into one or two cutting-teeth, separated from the 

 lateral teeth by an interspace. Tail short, depressed, covered with whorls of large 

 spinose scales. Prseanal and femoral pores. 



These curious essentially phytophagous Lizards inhabit the arid tracts of North Africa 

 and Southern Asia. The Algero-Tunisian species is : — 



1. UeOMASTIX ACANTHIJfCEUS, Bell, 1825. 

 U. spinipes, Gimther. — U. temporalis, Valenciennes. 



Anterior border of ear denticulated. Scales small, no enlarged ones on the back or 

 flanks. 9 to 11 femoral and 4 or 5 prseanal pores on each side. Tail above with large 

 spinose scales not separated by smaller ones ; below with smaller scales, two or three 

 whorls corresponding to one of the upper surface. Yellowish, greenish, or greyish 

 above, dotted or vermiculated with blackish or brown. 



Total length 250 millim., tail 150. 



Very common in Ihe stony Sahara, where it makes burrows in the firm soil to the 

 depth of two or three feet. It is found in abundance at Biskra, Bou-Saada, Geryville, 

 Mascara, Laghouat, and the Mzab ; also in the Hodna district, in the south of the 

 High Plateaux (Msila and Magra) ; in Tunisia M. Lataste observed it at Tamesred, 

 Taoudjout (Matmata), Hadedj, Wed-el-Kreil, M. Valeiy-Mayet at Gafsa and Kriz, and 

 Dr. Andre between Cabes and the Chott Fejej. 



U. acanthinurus is not recorded west of Algeria or east of Tunisia. It has sometimes 

 been confounded with the more eastern U, spinipes, Daud., distinguished by much 



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