REPTILES. ] 1 



Proctotretus Fitzingerii. 



Plate V.— Fig. 1. 



Capite squamis Icevibus, non imbricatis ; margine anteriore aurium granuloso ; squamis 

 supralabialibus ovalibus, in serie unicd dispositis ; squamis dorsalibus parum cari- 

 natis, postice obtusis. Facie posterior ~e femoricm prcecipuh granulosa sect portione, 

 caudam versus, squamis majoribus, rhomboideis imbricatis tectd. 



Proctotretus Fitzingerii, Bibr. 1. c. p. 280. 



Habitat, Patagonia. 



Description. — General form thick and robust, the head short being nearly as broad as it is long. 

 The muzzle slightly rounded. Scales of the head flat, small and numerous. Two scales only 

 behind the rostral and between those which are pierced by the nostrils. Those over the nose 

 and around the occipital scales being larger and more regularly arranged than the others. 

 The ear is large, oval, the anterior margin having, towards the upper part, about three small, 

 oval, granular, very slightly projecting scales. Temples covered with small, rounded or slightly 

 hexagonal scales, which are scarcely imbricated. A single range of rather broad oval scales 

 between the orbit and the upper lip. Scales of the sides of the neck, and above and behind 

 the shoulder small, granular. The trunk thick ; scales of the back very small, imbricated, very 

 slightly carinated, and not pointed behind ; those of the under parts smooth and rhomboidal. 

 The legs are short and robust. The anterior pair, placed against the side do not extend 

 backwards more than halfway to the thigh. The posterior pair do not quite reach the arms. 

 The posterior face of the thighs is covered with granular scales, excepting a large patch near 

 the groin rising to near the upper surface of the thigh, which are imbricated and rhomboidal, 

 similar to those of the inferior surface of the thigh. The scales of the upper part of the toes 

 are smooth, those beneath have one or two slight carinse. 



This species varies very much in colour ; three or four tolerably distinct varieties may be 

 noticed, but they often pass more or less into each other. As I have only one of these varieties 

 in my possession, I quote the following description from Mons. Bibron's account of the 

 specimens in the French Museum. 



Var. A. Les parties superieures sont grises, ou bien d'un brun marron plus ou moins 

 clair. II regne au long du cou et du dos quatre series de taches noires, bordees de blanc en 

 arriere. La queue et les membres offrent des bandes transversales anguleuse, d'un teint 

 marron noiratre, alternant avec des bandes semblables mais de couleur blanche. Les regions 

 infericures aussi sont blanches, excepte la gorge, qui est parcourue par des raies confluentes 

 brunes. D'autres raies d'un brun marron sont imprimees verticalement, sur les levres. 



Var. B. Cette variete se distingue de la precedente, en ce que le dessus de ses membres 

 est ponctue de noiratre, et que les quatre series de taches qui ornent le dos de la premiere 

 variete sont appliquees ici sur un fond fauve jaunatre. Puis la gorge est verdatre et le ventre 

 noir, marbre de blanc. 



