MONOGRAPH 



OF THE 



LACEETID^. 



Family LACBRTID^. 



The Lacertidae may be defined as strictly pleurodont, 

 coelodont lizards with the tongue flat, elongate, bifid in 

 front and behind, and covered with rhombic scale-like 

 papillae or overlapping oblique plicae converging for- 

 wards ; with the premaxillary bone single, the nasal and 

 frontal paired, the parietal single, complete post-orbital 

 and postfronto-squamosal arches, roofing over the supra- 

 temporal fossa, palatines and pterygoids separated on the 

 median line, and with bony dermal plates completely 

 fused with the cranial bones when in contact with them ; 

 with the clavicle dilated and perforated proximally, and 

 the interclavicle cruciform ; without dermal ossifications 

 on the body ; with symmetrical shields on the upper 

 surface of the head ; with the ventral lepidosis usually 

 well differentiated from the dorsal ; and with the lower 

 surface of the thighs usually bearing a series of pores. 

 This family does not present any cases of reduction of the 

 limbs, or of the visual or auditory organs. 



The present work contains descriptions of 145 species, 

 referred to 22 genera, defined in the following Synopsis.* 



* 97 species, referred to 17 genera, were recognised in the last general 

 account of the Family (Cat. Liz. iii, 1887). 43 species and 9 genera were 

 known to the authors of the Erpetologie Gtoerale (1839). 



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