464 



THE DESCENT OF MAN 



a still greater diflEerence; the lips also of the male are 

 black, while those of the female are green. In our com- 

 mon little viviparous lizard {Zootoca vivipara) "the under 

 side of the body and base of the tail in the male are bright 

 orange, spotted with black j in the female these parts are 

 pale grayish green without spots." " We have seen that 

 the males alone of Sitana possess a throat-pouch ; and this 

 is splendidly tinted with blue, black, and red. In the 

 Proctotretus tenuis of Chile the male alone is marked with 

 spots of blue, green, and coppery red." In many cases the 

 males retain the same colors throughout the year, but in 

 others they become 

 much brighter dur- 

 ing the breeding sea- 

 son ; I may give as an 

 additional instance the 

 Calotes maria, which 

 at this season has a 

 bright red head, the 

 rest of the body being 

 green." • 



Both sexes of many 

 species are beautifully 

 colored exactly alike; 

 and there is no reason 

 to suppose that such 

 colors are protective. N"o doubt with the bright green 

 kinds, which live in the midst of vegetation, this color 

 serves to conceal them, and in North Patagonia I saw a 

 lizard {Proctotretus muUimaculatus) which, when frightened, 

 flattened its body, closed its eyes, and then from its mottled 

 tints was hardly distinguishable from the surrounding sand. 





Fio. 8&— Cbameeleon Owenii. _ , 



lower fig:ure, female 



Upper figure, male ; 



lie 



™ BeU, "History of British Reptiles," 2d edit., 1849, p. 40. 



" For Proctotretus, see "Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle: Reptiles," 

 by Mr. Bell, p. 8. For the Lizards of S, Africa, see "Zoology of S. Africa: 

 Beptiles," by Sir Andrew Smith, pi. 25 and 39. For the Indian Calotes, see 

 "Reptiles of British India," by Dr. Giinther, p. 143. 



" Gunther in "Proc. Zoolog. Sec," 1870, p. 778, with a colored figura. 



