Zoology.-] NATURAL HISTORY OF VICTORIA. [Reptiles. 



Plate 72. 



CYCLODUS GIGAS (Bodd. sp.). 

 The Northern Blue-tongued Lizard. 



[Genus CYCLODUS (Wagler). (Sub-kingd. Vertebrata. Class Reptilia. Order Sauria. 

 Sub-order Leptoglossse. Tribe Geissosauria. Family Scincidae.) 



Gen. Char. — Form moderately thick, elongate, fusiform. Head large, thick, subtrigonal* 

 obtusely pointed in front. Neck short, thick ; head-shields thick, rather rugose ; nasal plates 

 near the tip of snout touching (or nearly) each other above, ovato-trigonal ; nostril in centre 

 of nasal plate, with a curved furrow bordering its posterior edge ; inter-nasal plate rhombic ; 

 no supra-nasals ; fronto-nasals two, moderate, touching ; frontal large, broad, obtuse-angled in 

 front, narrow behind ; two moderately large fronto-parietal plates ; parietals large ; inter- 

 parietal resembling the frontal, and nearly as long but much narrower, acute-angled in front ; 

 six superciliary plates over each eye, the second largest ; about five rows of temporal plates 

 between the eye and the ear ; polygonal occipital shields in one or more transverse rows ; orbit 

 surrounded by a row of small plates ; two frenal plates between the nasal plate and the orbit ; 

 lower eye-lid scaly. Ear-opening large, partly hidden by a projecting row of three or four thin, 

 rounded scales on front margin. Scales of back and sides bony, large, convex, subhexagonal, 

 rugose, with obscure diverging grooves ; scales of belly thinner and smoother. Legs four, 

 nearly equal, small, short, strong ; feet small, each with five short, cylindrical, sub-equal toes ; 

 claws short, thick. Tail short, rather less than one-third of the total length, sub-cylindrical, 

 very slightly compressed laterally, tapering, with rather thicker scales than the back of the 

 body, and a central row of large, broad, scales below. Tongue short, flat, scaly, slightly notched 

 at the point. Teeth on edge of jaws bluntly rounded ; palate without teeth, with a triangular 

 notch behind.] 



Description. — Form elongate, rounded, moderately depressed ; head obtusely 

 pointed in front, widening behind to the ear, and moderately narrowed to the short 

 thick neck. The four temporal plates immediately behind the row of ocular plates 

 surrounding the eye, and forming the side of the cheek from the parietal plates above 

 to the hindmost labial plates below, about twice the length of those temporal plates 

 next following them posteriorly. Rostral plate much wider than long. Nasal 

 plates usually joining for a short space (but sometimes not joining) above. Inter- 

 nasal plate about one-fifth longer than wide. Width of anterior part of frontal 

 about three-fifths of the length. Inter-parietal plate very narrow behind, about 

 twice as long as wide. Lower projecting scales on anterior edge of ear-drum largest. 

 General colour yellowish very pale brown, greyer and lighter below, crossed by from 

 14 to 20 transverse bands of rich dark-brown, varying from 3 to 6 scales wide on 

 the back, with narrower intervening light bands crossing from the neck to the tip of 

 the tail, the two anterior transverse bands on the neck and shoulder much narrower 

 than the others. One longitudinal very dark patch over the shoulder, extending from 

 near the ear, is nearly constant and darker than any other mark. A less dark patch 

 over the middle temporal plates from behind the eye to nearly over the ear sometimes 

 present and sometimes absent. Top of the head uniform very light brown, becoming 

 paler on the sides of the head and neck, and more distinctly yellow on the throat. 

 The longitudinal rows of scales on the anterior part of the back are marked by 

 narrow, indistinct, longitudinal dark-brown streaks at the lateral margins of each 

 scale. On the sides there are usually three or four indistinct longitudinal lines on 



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