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FEB 6- 1941
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
ZOOLOGICAL SERIES
OF
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Volume 24 CHICAGO, JANUARY 31, 1941 No. 16~
REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS FROM
CENTRAL ARABIA
BY KARL P. SCHMIDT
CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY
A small series of reptiles and amphibians collected during recent
journeys in central Arabia and presented to Field Museum by Mr.
H. St. J. B. Philby forms a welcome addition to Field Museum's
collections from southwestern Asia. That the fauna of this region
is still far from completely known is again brought to our attention
by the presence of an extremely distinct new skink of the genus
Scincus in Mr. Philby's collection. The fact that the list of reptiles
collected by Mr. Philby on his expedition through the Rub' al Khali
in 1932 (Parker, 1933) is entirely different from the present one,
though unquestionably in part fortuitous, is further testimony to
the geographic diversity of the Arabian fauna.
The map showing localities from which specimens are here
reported is the work of Mr. Peter Gerhard, a volunteer cartographer
in the Department of Anthropology. This has been drawn under
the direction of Dr. Henry Field, whose continued interest in south-
western Asia has contributed so much to the growth of our collec-
tions from that area. These collections have recently been listed
in our Zoological Series (Schmidt, 1939). The figure of the head of
the new lizard is by John J. Janecek.
Bufo viridis viridis Laurenti.
Three specimens from Hail (31655) and three from Hulaifa
(31655a).
Ptyodactylus hasselquistii hasselquistii Donndorff.
Eight specimens from Riyadh (31653).
Agama pallida Reuss.
Two specimens from the plain of Sa'ira, one from Butain Plain,
and one from Wadi ar Rima (31660-63).
No. 488 161
162 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ZOOLOGY, VOL. 24
Agama persica Blanford.
Two from Wadi ar Rima (31658-59).
The curious fact that this species has not been reported from Iran
since its original description, though supposedly abundant and wide-
spread in the Mesopotamian region, while Agama agilis, whose type
locality is Baghdad, is known only from Iran, suggests some unex-
plained confusion of species.
Agama stellio stellio Linnaeus.
One specimen from Jabal Aja, in a rocky ravine (31656).
Uromastix aegyptius Forskal.
One from Wadi Sirra (31641), one from Midbar ridges oh the
Medina-Hail road (31642), two from plain of Sa'ira (31643-44),
one from Butain Plain (31030), and one from the desert near 'Anaiza
(31032).
Varanus griseus Daudin.
A single specimen from Jidda (31645).
Acanthodactylus fraseri Boulenger.
Acanthodactylus fraseri Boulenger, Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 25, p. 373,
1918 Zobeya, Shariba, Lower Mesopotamia (now Iraq).
A single juvenile specimen from 'Anaiza (31652).
Scincus philbyi sp. nov.
Type from 'Anaiza, Saudi Arabia. No. 31664 Field Museum of
Natural History. Adult female. Collected June 11, 1938, by H. St.
J. B. Philby.
Diagnosis. A species of Scincus with the ear opening extremely
obscure; 28 scales around the body; six supraoculars; rostral in con-
tact with the internasal; prefrontals fused to form a single transverse
shield; female with bold, dark brown spots on sides. Distinguished
from Scincus scincus by its united prefrontals, more obscure ear-
opening, and by the dark lateral spots in the female.
Description of type. Body of the normal Scincus type; ear open-
ing extremely obscure, marked by a slightly modified scale, sepa-
rated from the rictus by two scales; snout produced, elongate;
rostral much enlarged with a sharp horizontal edge, broadly in con-
tact with the large internasal; internasal broadly in contact with
the single transverse pref rental; frontal elongate, narrowed behind;
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163
164 FIELD MUSEUM OP NATURAL HISTORY ZOOLOGY, VOL. 24
six supraoculars; four superciliaries, the first much the longest,
frontoparietals small; interparietal small, separating the two pairs
of parietals, which are followed by four nuchals on each side; nasal,
with the elongate nostril, smaller than supranasal; two elongate
loreals on each side; four suboculars; temporals 2-2 on each side;
upper labials 8-8; lower labials 7-7; two median postmentals; 26
scales at mid-body, 28 at a point slightly posterior; dorsals 57 from
a point opposite the posterior face of the thighs to the interparietal;
FIG. 18. Head of Sdncus philbyi sp. nov., dorsal and ventral views.
a pair of large anal plates; 60 ventrals from anals to a point opposite
the rictus; 10 lamellae beneath the fourth toe; expansions of the
digital lamellae well developed.
Brown above, paler on the sides and venter, with large chocolate
brown spots on the sides (four on the left, five on the right); these
spots about as high as wide, covering 4 to 6 scales; dorsal scales each
with one or two light spots.
Measurements. Total length 177, tail 77.
Notes on paratypes. Eleven paratypes, four females and seven
males (No. 28599), all collected at the same locality as the type, are
in excellent agreement with the type. All have the single pre-
frontal, and all the females bear the prominent lateral spots (four
to six in number), while the males are entirely without them. All
have 28 scales around the body; the number of dorsals varies from
56 to 62; the number of ventrals from 60 to 68; the nuchals from 2-3
to 5-5; lamellae beneath the fourth toe 10 or 11 ; tail length 0.38 to 0.44
FEB6-1941
UWVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
1941 REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS FROM ARABIA SCHMIDT 165
of the total length in females, average 0.40, and from 0.37 to 0.45
in males, average 0.42.
Remarks. Scincus philbyi can scarcely be regarded as a geo-
graphic form of any species already known. The considerable
number of species of Scincus appears to be correlated with their
restriction to the dune sand habitat, and consequent isolation by
intervening rock desert. The west Algerian form described by
Werner as Scincus officinalis laterimaculata (1914, p. 13, pi., fig. 3)
agrees closely with the form here described in color pattern; presum-
ably it has the normal pair of prefrontals of Scincus scincus. Scincus
meccensis has fewer scales around the body and five supraoculars; it
agrees with philbyi in the presence of brown spots on the sides, but
these are two or three in number. Scincus mitranus Anderson is
recorded from Jafura and the Rub' al Khali by Parker (1933, p. 398);
while this species has reddish brown lateral spots like those of
philbyi, it is described as having five supraoculars and two prefrontals.
Coluber rhodorhachis Jan.
One specimen from Wadi Sirra (31649) and three from Jidda
(31646-48). Ventrals in two males and one female from the latter
locality are 220, 224, and 224; the female specimen from Wadi Sirra
has 235 ventrals. All these specimens represent the immaculate
gray phase of this species.
Spalerosophis cliffordii Schlegel.
A single specimen from Hulaifa (31650), and a female from Jidda
(31651). Ventrals and caudals respectively 215 and 76, and 215
and 71.
Aspis cerastes Laurenti.
A single female, without horns, from Junaitha (31654), with 153
ventrals and 33 caudals.
REFERENCES
PARKER, H. W.
1933. Reptiles. App. G (pp. 397-398) in H. St. J. B. Philby, The Empty Quar-
ter. London, Constable & Co. Ltd., xxiv+433 pp., illus.
SCHMIDT, K. P.
1939. Reptiles and Amphibians from Southwestern Asia. Field Mus. Nat.
Hist., Zool. Ser., 24, pp. 49-92, fig. 6.
WERNER, FRANZ
1914. Ergebnisse einer von Prof. F. Werner im Sommer 1910 mit Unter-
stiitzung aus dem Legate Wedl ausgefiihrten zoolpgischen Forschungsreise
nach Algerien II. Vertebrata. Sitzber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-naturw.
KL, 123, Abt. 1, pp. 331-361, pi. 1.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA
