ACANTHODACTYLUS SCUTELLATUS. 163 
The largest Egyptian <J and $ are from Wadi Haifa, and measure as follows : — 
<$ . Snout to vent 71 millim., tail 149 millim. 
?• „ 64 „ 
A. scutellatus is found on stony and sandy ground, such as that skirting the margin 
of the alluvium, e. g., between Gizeh and Abu Roash. 
It is seemingly widely distributed over North Africa, as it has been recorded from 
Somaliland, Sennaar, Nubia, Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripoli, Tunisia, Algeria, the Algerian 
Sahara, the Semur district on the west coast of Africa, and from Senegambia. It is 
also present in tbe Sinaitic Peninsula and Southern Syria. 
From the table (pp. 165-168) recording the measurements of this species it will be 
observed that not only no Saharian, but also no Algerian or Tunisian lizards, quite attain 
to the dimensions of the lizards from Wadi Haifa. At the same time, the difference of 
size between the largest lizard from Duirat, on the confines of Tunisia and Tripoli, and 
the largest individual from Wadi Haifa is so slight that the lizards from these two regions 
may be regarded as practically attaining to the same dimensions. Not one of the speci- 
mens in my collection from Lower Egypt measures more than 65 millim. from snout to 
vent ; but the lizards figured from Egypt by Savigny, natural size, are quite as large as 
the Wadi Haifa specimens. The largest individual from the Sahara is a female from 
Tuggurt, which measures 54 millim. from snout to vent, but it is only 3 millim. 
shorter than the largest female from Lower Egypt, so that there is no very great 
difference between the size of the lizards of these two regions, but those from the 
Sahara are slightly more slender. The specimens from the Sinaitic Peninsula and 
Syria attain to the dimensions of the Egyptian lizards. On the other hand, this lizard 
in the western extremity of its distribution is seemingly smaller than in the other 
regions, as the largest male is only 57 millim. from the snout to the vent. As I have 
seen only one specimen from Somaliland, it is impossible at present to say to what 
dimensions it attains in that area. In Lower Egypt, females (PI. XXII. fig. 6) of a buff 
colour and with non-carinated scales are not infrequently met with in a gravid condition, 
and not more than 44 millim. in length from snout to vent; but, at the same time, others 
resembling them in colour and in the character of the lepidosis, attain 57 millim. long, 
thus equalling the largest female from the same region, and in which the scales are not 
quite so granular. These small buff-coloured specimens recall the western variety, 
exigua of Lataste. From these facts it is evident that there are no sharp lines of 
demarcation between the smaller and larger individuals, and that consequently varieties 
founded on size caunot be clearly defined. 
In the Wadi Haifa individuals (figs. 1 & 2) the scales are larger than in those from 
Lower Egypt, and are distinctly carinated and more or less imbricate. About Gizeh 
and elsewhere a feeble carination can be detected in some specimens, but it is very 
slight compared with what is present at Wadi Haifa. 
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