Annals of the Transvaal Museum 
241 
gular scales small, larger irregular scales under the neck, sides of neck with 
irregular erect spines. Dorsal scales large, forming regular transverse series, 
keeled towards the middle, spinose on the sides, 30-32 transverse series (from 
occiput to base of tail) of 20 scales. Ventrals quadrangular, mostly broader 
than long, smooth, the outer ones slightly keeled, forming 14 longitudinal and 
34-36 transverse series; a pair of feebly enlarged praeanal plates, with smaller 
ones in front- and on the sides. Limbs above with large spinose keeled scales; 
10—12 femoral pores on each side. Tail with whorls of large spinose scales, 
separated from each other by whorls of smaller scales; lateral caudal scales 
large, strongly spinose, lower caudal scales long, narrow, pentagonal, slightly 
keeled. Colour: blackish above, with yellowish spots, forming more or less 
regular transverse series; belly, brownish with yellowish spots. 
millim. 
millim. 
Total length 
... 312 
Fore limb . . . 
••• 43 
Head 
... 36 
Hind limb... 
... 64 
Width of head 
... 30 
Tail 
... 174 
Body 
102 
Type, one adult specimen from Barberton, Transvaal. Collected by G. P. F. 
van Dam, and A. Roberts, March, 1920. 
This species differs from Z. breyeri and Z. warreni, in size of the occipital 
spines, and number of transverse series of dorsal scales. 
The Transvaal Museum possesses also two young specimens from the 
same locality. 
Zonurus robertsi sp. nov. Plate IV. 
Description based on one holotype and one paratype. 
Head depressed, triangular in shape, much longer than broad. Head 
shields slightly rugose ; nasals not swollen, in contact with each other, pierced 
posteriorly; frontonasal hexagonal, about as long as broad, sometimes the 
posterior part is in contact with the frontal; praefrontals in contact at their 
inner angles, or separated by the anterior point of the frontal and the posterior 
part of the frontonasal; frontal hexagonal, the anterior point sometimes in 
contact with the frontonasal shield ; frontoparietals about as long as broad, or 
slightly longer than broad ; interparietal small, between two pairs of parietals ; 
posterior parietals slightly larger than the anterior ones ; neck much narrower 
than hind head, above, behind the head, covered with small irregular scales 
and granules; temporals large, in three longitudinal rows; four supraoculars ; 
four to five supraciliaries ; lower eyelid opaque; loreal and praeocular large, 
four suborbitals; rostral nearly three times as broad as high; 5-6 upper 
labials, fourth and fifth, or fifth and sixth, separated by a suborbital shield ; 
6-7 lower labials, bordered below by four large shields and one small one; 
irregular chin shields; gular scales small, those in the centre largest, and 
gradually getting smaller towards the sides; moderately large, irregularly 
arranged scales under the neck; sides of neck folded, granular; dorsal scales 
soft, and intermixed with small scales and granules, forming regular transverse 
series, the two median rows large, slightly rugose, quadrangular, and with a 
distinct keel, those towards the sides slightly rugose, quadrangular or penta- 
gonal, about half the size of the two median rows, mostly distinctly keeled, 
the keel of the last row very distinct, in 12-14 longitudinal (counting over the 
middle of the back) and 42-46 transverse series (from middle of neck to base 
of tail) ; sides of body covered with very small roundish scales and granules ; 
ventrals large, broader than long, square, smooth, juxtaposed, forming eight 
17—2 
