570 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



fhau bi If. SavilU-K.nt, b./,.S. 



BEARDED LIZARD 



Jl'hh us hcard-likc throjt-nicmhravc jully expanded 



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AUSTR 



T/te scales oj the hi 



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ALIAN JEW OR BEARDED LIZARDS 



'arjed lizard are exceed:n^!\ rough and s/uirp^ sometimes cutting the sktn 

 of those ^vho iiandle them incautiously 



species, attain to a considerable 

 length, 5 or 6 feet ; their bodies 

 are proportionably thick, and the 

 white flesh, in this last-named 

 variety more particularly, is highly 

 esteemed as a table delicacy. The 

 common Tubekculated Iguana 

 is an essential!)' handsome species, 

 its skin being \'ariegated with 

 bands and shadings of brown and 

 green, which arc lightest and 

 brightest in the males and }'0unger 

 individuals; the neck and snout 

 and jaws arc decorated with pro- 

 jecting, rounded tubercles ; a large, 

 baggy, dewlap-like membrane, 

 capable of inflation at the animal's 

 will, depends from the chin and 

 throat ; and a deeply serrated crest 

 of elevated scales extends from 

 behind the head, down the centre 

 of the back, nearl}' to the extremity 

 of the tail. 



The Iguana Family includes 

 a species with essentiall}' marine 

 proclivities, this being the G.\L.\- 

 PAGOS Sea-lizaro. This animal 

 was first discovered to science by 

 the late Mr. Charles Darwin, who 



found it in considerable numbers on the shores of the 

 islands which constitute the Galapagos group. The lizards 

 were observed to spend much of their time swimming in 

 the sea, but at no very great distance from the land. Experi- 

 ments proved that ihey could live for a very considerable 

 interval entirely submerged, examples sunk with weights for 

 as much as an hour emerging entirely unaffected from the 

 ordeal. 



While the Iguanas may be described as cssentiall)' 

 American, one or two exceptional forms arc f lund inhabiting 

 the relatively remote regions of the V\]\ Islands and Mada- 

 gascar. The so-called I'^IJI Baxded Igu.vxa (pht)tographs of 

 a pair of which, once in the writer's possession, are reproduced 

 on page 575) is a very beautiful creature. Tlie body is 

 shapely and well proportioned, and terminates in a tail of 

 abnormal length — equal to quite twice that of the body — 

 the entire dimensions measuring some 3 feet. The male is 

 much more bright in hue than the female; fir while the 

 latter is usually of a uniform light green throughout, the 

 male is variegated, with broad, alternating bands (if brightest 



/■*o(o hy I/: suviiii-Kiiii, i-.z.a. 

 A YOUNG BEARDED LIZARD 



Shelving its habitual sleeping attitude 



