AfiAMISiE). 251 



more distinctly incised in the herbivorous genera Lophwa, Liolepis, 

 and Vromastix. 



Femoral and prssanal pores are absent in the majority of the 



genera ; it is a remarkable fact that they exist, at least in the 



males, in all Australian genera but one ( Ghelosania, known as yet 



from a unique specimen), whereas they are missing in all others 



except Uromastix and Liolepis. There are no large symmetrical 



plates on the head or on the belly ; and ornamental appendages, such 



as crests, gular pouches, &c., are frequently present, either in the 



males only or in both sexes. The tail is usually long and not 



fragile ; it is prehensile only in the genus Copfiotis, and some 



Phrynocephali have the curious faculty of curling upwards the 



extremity of that organ. The digits are usually keeled inferiorly 



or denticulated laterally. The shape of the body as well as the 



scaling vary considerably according to the genera and in adaptation 



to the modes of life. Generally speaking, ground Agamoids have 



the body depressed and arboreal compressed; but a division of 



the genera into terrestrial and arboreal, which has hitherto been 



almost generally accepted, must be given up as impracticable and 



unnatural. Most Agamoids are exclusively insectivorous ; Lophura, 



Liolepis, and Uromastix are herbi- or frugivorous, while some 



species of Agama have a mixed diet ; again, a systematic division into 



insectivorous and herbivorous, as has been proposed by Theobald, 



would be as unsatisfactory as that into terrestrial and arboreal. 



Leaving out the strongly specialized genera Draco and Moloeh, all 

 the forms pass very gradually one into another in different direc- 

 tions, rendering a sharp generic division, and still more a serial 

 arrangement, a matter of great difficulty. 



The Agamidce inhabit Africa, Asia, Australia, and Polynesia: 

 they are most numerous in species as well as in genera in the Indian 

 Eegion ; in Africa they are represented by only three genera, viz. 

 Agama, Aporoscelis, and, in the northern parts, Uromastix. Four 

 species extend slightly beyond the limits. of Asia and Africa into 

 South-eastern Europe. They are absent from Madagascar and New 

 Zealand. 



Synopsis qf the Genera. 

 I. Mouth large ; teeth erect in both jaws. 

 A. Incisors small, conical. 



1. Fo true § prseanal or femoral pores. 



a. Eibs much prolonged, supporting a wing-Uke dermal 



expansion 1- Draco, p. 253. 



b. No wing-like lateral expansion. 

 a. Body not depressed. 



* Four toes only 2. Sitana, p. 270. 



8 "True" by opposition to the callous pore-like Bwellings of the prseanal 

 scales of the males in the genera Affama and Aporoscelis. 



