Lacerta. 315 



of opinion, but what is important is to dispose of the statements 

 hitherto made by different authors as to the characters which were 

 believed to justify a specific separation, such as a longer and flatter 

 head, longer limbs, the shape and size of the occipital shield, the 

 temporal scutellation, the coloration, etc.,* b_y showing how far they 

 are to be relied upon, and what importance is to be attached to them 

 by analogy with the rariations recognised in other better-known allied 

 species, such as L. muralis and L. oxycephala. 



The head is often somewhat flatter and more elongate than in 

 L. danfordii, but not constantly, one adult male (from Eambos) being 

 in this respect absolutely identical with one of the types from Asia 

 Minor (see p. 31 2 , measurements, column 2 ) . This individual variation , 

 which is not even so great as in L. muralis, var. hocagii, is best shown 

 by measurements of a few specimens : 



<? ? 



1. 2. 



Length of head 

 Width of head 

 Depth of head 

 Length of pileus 

 Width of pileus . 



1. Langhada. 2-4. Kambos. 5, 8. Lada. 6, 7. Megali. 



The head is thus seen to be roughly li to If times as long as broad, 

 the length of the pileus about twice its width ; the depth of the head 

 equals the distance between the centre of the eye and the anterior 

 border of the tympanum ; snout obtusely pointed, as long as or a little 

 longer than postocular part of head. Proportions of limbs and tail 

 as in the typical form. 



Eostral usually entering the nostril, sometimes narrowly separated 

 from it. Upper head-shields as in the typical form, except that, when 

 the head is more elongate, the frontal and the frontonasal are longer 



* It may be interesting to reproduce here the reasons given by the original 

 describer of i. grseca for distinguishing it from L. danfordii : " Da man kiirz- 

 lich versucht hat L. danfordi mit L. grseca zu vereinigen, so will ioh hierselbst 

 auf die Hauptuntersehiede, welche ich zwischen dem mir vorliegenden Exemplar 

 von L. danfordi und den grieca gefnnden zu haben glaube, hinweisen : D. dan- 

 fordi. Kopf pyramidal, Eumpf nahezu walzenf ormig. Oecipitale kleiner als 

 das Interparietale, Massetericum vorhanden ; gewolbte, gegen den Schwanz hin 

 geMelte Euiupfschuppen. 19 Schenkeldriisen. L. graca. Kopf und Bumpf 

 abgeplatted. Oecipitale grosser als das Interparietale, Massetericum f ehlend ; 

 ziemlich flache, gegen den Schwanz hin schwach eingedruckte Eumpfschuppen. 

 22-24 Schenkeldriisen." (Bedriaga, op. cit. p. 246.) 



