80 



G. J. de Fej e r vary: 



the corium of this part only, but took place in other parts of the body 

 as well. It is not quite impossible, therefore, that the predecessors 

 of the Lacertidae possessed a more extended secondary exoskeletal 

 armour. I would liketo emphasize, however, that such a supposition 

 is not corroborated by any ontogenetical or embryological fact and 

 could be supported but in a purely theoretical way, merely 

 onthe strengthof the above cited physiological consideration. Thus, 

 for the present, it might appear more probable that in the Lacer- 

 tidae it is only on the head where the formation of secondary 

 dermal bones took place; we saw that on the roof of the skull, 

 where the skin very closely adheres to the (actually) endoskeletal 

 bones, exoskeletal, i. e. corial ossifications are easily formed,^^) 

 by means of the cells of the connective tissue, which may function 

 in a similar way as the true osteoblasts. But how to explain the 

 presence of the temporal armour ? Under that no bony parts are 

 to be found, as it Covers only deep muscular layers. A satisfactory 

 answer with respect to this question could, at present, hardly be 

 given. Maybe that mechanical irritations, due to the mode of life 

 of these larger animals, which use their head when boring them- 

 selves into an earthy-stony ground, ought to be here taken into 

 consideration. 



Some years ago Prof. de Mehely^^) has proved that within 

 the Lacertian forms referred by most authors to the species Lacerta 

 muralis Laur., some rather heterogeneous species exist, which 

 cannot be looked upon as constituting mere races of one and the 

 same species. In the quoted pubhcations Mr. Mehely has also 

 dealt with the supraciliary lamina of the ,,mtiralis-\ike" Lizards, 

 and demonstrated that with respect to this element two aberrant 

 features occur. In one part of these forms the supraciliary lamina 

 is composed of fully ossified ,,supraocularies" and a more or less 

 complete series of ,,supraciliaries*', whilst in the other the supra- 

 ciliary lamina is rather weak, and bears a more or less large mem- 

 braneous fontanelle; in the latter forms the number of supra- 

 ciliary Clements is much reduced, and may even be represented 

 by a unique element, i. e. the first supraciliary (supraciliare princi- 

 pale). The skull of the Lizards presenting a completely ossified 

 supraciliary lamina, is strongly osseous, its roof is rather strongly 

 incrusted, and the temporal region generally bears at least some 

 ,,supratemporar* dermal bones. The skull of the other group is 

 weak, rather membraneous, generally more depressed, being, in 

 its temporal region, devoid of any dermal ossification. The species 



Cfr. the discussion of the secondary dermal bones in Pelohates. 



Cfr.: Zur Lösung d. „Muralis-Frage", Ann. Mus. Nat. Hang., V, 

 Budapest, 1907, p. 84— 88, Taf. III; Archaeo- und Neolacerten (Erwiderung 

 an d. Herren G. A. Boulenger F. R. S. u. Dr. F. Werner), ibid. V, 1907, 

 p. 469 — 493, Taf. X; Materialien zu e. Syst. u. Phyl. d. muralis-ähnlichen 

 Lacerten, ibid. VII, 1909, p. 409-621, Taf. X-XXV, Textfig. 1-8; 

 Weitere Beitr. z. Kenntn. d. Archaeo- u. Neolacerten, ibid. VIII, 1908, 

 p. 217-230, Taf. VI, 



