Latastia. 15 



parent disc, if present, formed of several scales. Collar 

 well marked. Dorsal scales small and juxtaposed or 

 rather large, imbricate, and graduating into the caudals ; 

 ventral plates not or but feebly imbricate, with truncate 

 or straight posterior border, smooth. Digits feebly 

 compressed, with keeled lamellar scales inferiorly. 

 Femoral pores. Tail long, cylindrical. 



South-western Asia, North-eastern and Tropical Africa. 



All the species have retained the parietal foramen, and the pterygoid 

 teeth are absent or reduced to a few. There are two superposed post- 

 nasals, or even three in some specimens of L. cappadocica. 



This genus forms a connexion between Lacerta and Acanihodactylus 

 and falls into two principal groups, or sections, which appear to have 

 been derived independently from two sections of the genus Lacerta, as 

 mentioned in dealing with L. cappadocica, the unique representative 

 of Apathya, regarded as generically distinct by Mehely. 



Mehely has attached a great importance to the number of keels 

 under the digits in separating Apathya from Latastia, but the distinc- 

 tive character would not hold good in the genera Acanihodactylus and 

 Ophiops, where I find a great variation in the keels in specimens of A. 

 vulgaris and 0. microlepis, some having a single median keel on the 

 subdigital lamellEe, others two or three. The keels also vary accord- 

 ing to the species in the genus JEremias in the sense in which it is 

 usually taken. 



Synopsis of the Species. 



I. Latastia, s. str. Lower eyelid opaque ; frontal grooved, at least anteriorly ; 

 subdigital lamellae tiicarinate. 



A. Dorsal scales not larger than the laterals, much smaller 



than the basal caudals, 25 to 40 in a transverse series 



between the hind limbs. 



1. 39 to 52 scales across the middle of the body ; no 



group of small plates in the middle of the pectoral 



region. 



a. Dorsal scales sharply keeled. 

 No gular fold ; edge of collar serrated ; 13 to 16 femoral pores 



on each side ... L. johnstonii, Blgr., p. 16. 



A gular fold ; edge of collar even ; 10 to 14 femoral pores on 



each side L. siebenrocki, Torn., p. 19. 



i. Dorsal scales not sharply keeled. 

 Scales feebly but very distinctly keeled ; 9 to 11 plates in the 



collar ; 12 to 14 femoral pores on each side L. burii, Blgr., p. 20. 



