1907.] THE lONIAX LIZARD. 561 



Description of Lacerta taurica and its variations. 

 Form and Proportions. 



Intermediate between L. agilis and L. imircdis, var. cam2}estris. 

 Head rather small (4 to 4j times in length to vent in males, 

 4^ to 4f times in females), as deep as broad or not much broader 

 than deep, once and a half to once and two thirds as long as broad, 

 exceptionally once and three fourths * ; occipital region convex ; 

 snout obtusely j)ointed, with straight or slightly convex upper 

 profile, as long as the distance between the eye and the ear-opening ; 

 depth of the head, in the tympanic region, equal to or a little 

 greater than the distance between the anterior corner of the eye 

 and the anterior border of the tympanum. Neck as broad as the 

 head, or a little na,rrower or a little broader. Body moderately 

 depressed. Hind limb, in the males, reaching the axilla, the 

 shoulder, or the collar ; in the females reaching the wrist or the 

 elbow of the adpressed fore limb ; foot as long as the head or a little 

 longer (not more than once and one fourth). Tail once and a half 

 to slightly over twice the length of head and body. 



Palatcd teeth. 



A few small teeth are nearly always present on the pterygoid 

 bones t. 



Seeding. 



Rostral shield entering the nostril, often largely J. Nasals 

 forming a short suture behind the rostral § ; frontonasal much 

 broader than longji; frontal as long as or shorter than its 

 distance from the end of the snout ; parietals once and one fourth 

 to once and one third as long as broad, in contact with the upper 

 postocular ; occipital very variable in shape, usually shoi-ter than 

 the interparietal, sometimes fused with, or separated from it by a 

 small shield *\. An incomplete series of granules between the 

 supraciliaries and the supraoculars, the first supraciliary being 

 constantly in contact with the second supraocular, the granules 

 sometimes minute or reduced to 2 to 5**. Postnasal single ft. 

 Four upper labials anterior to the subocular %%. Scutellation of 



* In a male from Nision, Greece. 



f These teeth are very rarely present in the vars. campestris and serjpa of 

 Zi. muralis, and appear to be constantly absent in the typical form of that species. 



X I have observed only two exceptions ( $ from Szabadka and $ from Corfu), in 

 which the nostril is narrowly separated from the rostral. 



§ In a $ from Nision, Greece, the frontonasal forms a suture with the rostral; in 

 a ^ from Cephalonia the nasal is in contact with the anterior loreal, above the 

 postnasal (see text-fig. 162 b, p. 558). 



II Broken up into four shields, forming a cross, in a $ from Bazias. 

 ■y As long as the interparietal in a few specimens from Greece and the Ionian 

 Islands. 



** In specimens from Crimea, Bulgaria, Hungary, Cephalonia and Corfu, as in 

 some specimens of i. peloponnesiaca, in which species the granules ara usually 

 entirely absent. 



ft Two superposed postnasals in a $ from Nision. 



XX Five on one side in a $ from Szabadka and in another from RuTshuk ; three 

 on each side in a $ from Cephalonia. 



;^8* 



