32 LESSER WATER-NEWT. Class III. 



6. Lesser Lacerta aquatica. L. olivaceo- Lacerta aquatica. L. cauda 



" fusca nigra maculata, sub- teretiuscula mediocri. Gm. 



tus crocea cauda ancipiti la- Lin. 1066. Faun. Suec. 282. 



teribus sinuata. Shaw. Gen. Triton cristatus. Laur. Am- 



Zool. iii. Part I. 298. Nat. phib. 39. 

 Misc. xi. pi. 412. 



[MR. Pennant, de la Cepede, and other natu- 

 ralists, have considered this species to be the 

 same as the Warted Lizard, , but we must sub- 

 scribe to the distinctive character pointed out 

 by Dr. Shaw in his general Zoology. We take 

 the liberty of copying his accurate and interest- 

 ing description of so curious an animal. 

 Descrip- " Its general length is about three inches and a 

 half, and it very rarely exceeds that of four inches 

 at most. The male is distinguishable at first sight 

 from the female by its very conspicuous dorsal 

 crest or process, which is broader in propor- 

 tion, more strongly elevated, and more regu- 

 larly sinuated, than that of the preceding spe- 

 cies ; the sinuations are continued to the very 

 tip of the tail on the upper part, and take place 

 likewise in a similar proportion on the under 

 part as far as the junction of the tail with the 

 abdomen ; whereas, in the former species, the 

 upper part of the tail alone can properly be 

 said to be crested : this wide process or sinu- 

 ated part is remarkably transparent, and when 



TION. 



