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NORTH AMERICAN 
bee teak io OL OG: 


OR, 


A DESC ELE LION 


OF THE 


REPTILES INHABITING THE UNITED STATES, 


BY JOHN EDWARDS HOLBROOK, M. D. 


PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY IN THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL 
MEDICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL 
SOCIETY; OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA; OF THE 
NEW YORK LYCEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, AND OF THE BOSTON 
SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


Vor. If. 


PHILADELPHIA: 


J. DOBSON, 106 CHESTNUT STREET. 


LONDON: ROBERT BALDWIN, PATERNOSTER ROW.—PARIS: HECTOR BOSSANGE, 
NO. 11 QUAI VOLTAIRE.—HAMBURG: PERTHES, BESSER & MAUKE. 


1842. 


1Gb 838 


7 


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PREE AC i: 


In publishing a second volume of the Norra American Herpetotoey, I would 


offer my thanks to those gentlemen who have lent me their assistance. 
For the Chelonian animals described in this volume, I am indebted 


To Dr. Dantet, of Savannah, for several living specimens of the Trionyx 


ferox. 


To Professor Troost, of Nashville, Tennessee, for a specimen and beautiful 


drawing of the Trionyx muticus, and of his Chelonura Temminckii. 


To my friend Dr. Hattowext, of Philadelphia, for remarks on a recent 


Spargis coriacea. 


To Dr. Barrett, of South Carolina, for a fine specimen of one of the most 
remarkable of all our reptiles—the Chelonura Temminckii, found by him in 


Alabama. 


vi PREFACE. 


To Dr. Witu1am Branoine, formerly of Columbia, South Carolina, and now 
residing in Philadelphia, for several undescribed reptiles from the South and 
West, especially for a new and beautiful specimen of the Cistuda Blandingii, an 


inhabitant of the western states. 


For the Saurian animals I have to thank Mr. Nurratt, the Botanist, for a 
beautiful specimen of the Phrynosoma coronata, procured by him in the Oregon 


territory, and for valuable remarks on the habits of the animal. 


Also, the Honourable J. R. Pornserr, Secretary of War, for a living specimen 


of the Phrynosoma cornuta from Arkansas. 


A. Gaitiarp, Esq., of Charleston, for a specimen of the Phrynosoma orbiculare, 


found by him in Texas. 


JOHN EDWARDS HOLBROOK. 


Medical College, Charleston, South Carolina, 1842. 


CON EANet 8: 


PAGE. 

1. Trionyx ferox,  - - - - - - - 11 
2. mutiCus, ~ - - - - - -- 19 
3. Chelonia mydas, - - - - - - - 25 
4 caretta, - - - - - - - 33 
5 imbricata, - - - - - - 39 
6. Spargis coriacea, - - - - - - - 45 
7. Alligator Mississippiensis, - - - - : 53 
8. Anolius Carolinensis, - - = = = 2 een cir 
9. Tropidolepis undulatus, - - - - - - 73 
10. Crotaphytus collaris,  - - - - - - = 9 
11. Phrynosoma cornuta, - - - - - - 87 
12: orbiculare, - - - - - - 93 
Hs coronata, - - - - - - 97 
14, Douglassii, - - - - - - 101 
15. Ameiva sex-lineata, - - - - - - 109 


16. Plestiodon erythrocephalus, - - - - - - 117 


1v 

17. Scincus quinquelineatus, 
18. Sasciatus, - 
19. Lygosoma lateralis, 


20. Ophisaurus ventralis, 


CONTENTS. 


NORTH AMERICAN 


HERPETOLOGY. 


Orper I. CHELONIA.—continvep. 


Famity II. POTAMITES.* Dumeril et Bibron. 


CHARACTERS. 


—_ 


. The bony carapace is greatly depressed, covered with skin stead of horny 
plates, which is more extensive than the ribs, and thickest and movable at 
their external extremities. 


[SS 


. The sternum is short, and truncated behind, but longer than the carapace 
before, and is nowhere joined to it by symphysis. 


3. The head is small, elongated, narrow, and covered above, as well as at the 
sides, with skin. 


4, The nostrils are tubular, closely approximated, and open in front, at the 
extremity of a short, fleshy, movable appendix. 


* Tlorapuoc, Morapos: fluvialis, amnicus. 


Vot, IL.—2 


10 POTAMITES. 


5. The eyes are prominent, near each other, and are directed forwards and a little 


upwards. 


6. The jaws are strong, with their cutting margins nearly naked, being covered 
externally only by a thick revolute fold of skin resembling lips. 


7. The neck is very long and retractile. 
8. The extremities are very short, thick, and depressed; there are five fingers and 


as many toes, but only three nails to each extremity, and these are nearly 
straight and slightly grooved below. 


DSI 


Trionyx ferox 


Tho! M Logan; MD.pinxt LPS Duvad, Lith Pail? 


11 


TRIONYX.—Geoffroy de St. Hilaire. 


Genus Trionyx.—Cuaracters. Carapace with an osseous disk in the centre, 
from the sides of which project bony tubercles or ribs; beyond these the margin 
is cartilaginous, flexible; mandibles furnished with thick lps at the sides; snout 
prolonged; anterior extremities with five fingers, palmate, the three internal 


furnished with nails; posterior, with five toes, palmate, the three internal with 
nails. 


TRIONYX FEROX.—Schneider. 
Plate J. 


Cuaracters. Head elongated, oval; snout greatly prolonged; neck very long; 
body covered above with a strong cartilaginous shield, entire, with numerous 
short spines or tubercles on the anterior margin, and several knobs near the 
posterior border; above, umber coloured, with irregular dusky blotches; abdomen 
beautiful white, and marked with numerous red blood-vessels; anterior extremities 
with five palmated fingers, the three anterior only furnished with nails; posterior 
with five toes fully palmated, the three internal with nails. 


Synonymes. Soft-shelled Turtle, Pennant, Phil. Trans. for 1771, vol. lxi. p. 268, pl. x. 
figs. 1, 2, 3. 
Testudo ferox, Schneider, Schildk., p. 330. 
Testudo ferox, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. Lin., tom. i. part iii. p. 1039. 
Soft-shelled Turtle, Bartram, Travels in Carolina, &c., p. 177. 
La molle, Lacépéde, Quad. Ovip., tom. i. p. 136, not the figure. 


12 TRIONYX FEROX. 


Testudo ferox, Schoep ff, Hist. Test., p. 88, f. xix. 
Testudo verrucosa Bartrami, Schoep ff, Loc. Cit., p. 90. 
Testudo ferox, Latreille, Hist. Nat. Rept., tom. i. p. 165. 
La tortue de Pennant, Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. ii. p. 69. 
Testudo Bartrami, Daudin, Loc. Cit., p. 74. 
Testudo ferox, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii. part i. p. 64, pl. xvii. fig. 1. 
Trionyx Georgicus, Geoffroy, Ann. Mus., tom. xiv. p. 7. 
Trionyx Bartrami, Geoffroy, Loc. Cit., p. 18. 
Trionyx ferox, Schweigger, Arch. Kénigsb., vol. i. p. 285. 
Trionyx ferox, Merrem, Versuch. eines Syst. der Amphib., p. 20. 
Trionyx ferox, Say, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien. Philad., vol. ii. p. 203. 
Trionyx spiniferus, Lesweur, Mem. du Mus., tom. xy. p. 258, pl. vi. figs. a, b. 
Testudo ferox, Leconte, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y., vol. iii. p. 93. 
- Aspedonectes ferox, Wagler, Natiirlich. Syst. der Amphib., p. 134. 
Trionyx ferox, Gray, Synops. Rept., p. 43. 
Trionyx ferox, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 158. 
Gymnopus spiniferus, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. ii. p. 477, pl. xxii. 
fig. 1. 
Soft-shelled Tortoise, or Soft-shelled Turtle, Valgo. 


Description. The shell is sub-oval, larger behind, entire, ecarinate, greatly 
depressed, and smooth above, except where some tubercles are situated on its 
posterior soft portion. These tubercles are small, disposed in rows, and reach 
from the margin to the circumference of the bony disk. At the anterior border 
are seen a number of pointed or conical tubercles; many of them are almost 
horny at the tip. ' 


The sternum is oval, entire, and full in front, extending even beyond the 
carapace; its anterior part is cartilaginous and movable, and can be drawn 
upwards at the will of the animal, so as to touch the carapace, and thus conceal 
the head when retracted. Posteriorly the sternum is also entire, but smaller, and 
much less extensive, leaving the extremities completely exposed. 


The head is large, elongated, oval, with the forehead considerably elevated, and 


TRIONYX FEROX. 13 


the snout small, cylindrical, and greatly prolonged. The nostrils are anterior and 
closely approximated; they are sub-round, the greatest extent being in the vertical 
direction, and their long axes are parallel to each other. The eyes are large, 
prominent, and very closely approximated; the pupil is black, the iris of pale 
lemon colour, very brilliant, and marked with an interrupted longitudinal black 
band. The mouth is large, naked in front, but with large, revolute, movable, thick 
lips at the sides, both above and below. The jaws are entire, or without serre, 


and the lower is received within the upper. 


The anterior extremities are large, flattened, and covered at the fore-arm with 
three broad scales placed transversely; there are five fingers, extensively palmated, 
but the three anterior alone are furnished with nails, the two posterior are far 
apart, and seem useful only in supporting the web. The posterior extremities 
are equally large, and still more flattened at the tarsus, which sustains five 
broadly palmated toes, the three anterior furnished with short strong curved 
nails, a little grooved on their inferior face; the two posterior toes are far apart, 
and sustain the web, which is here extensive, and continued along the posterior 
margin of the limb; and further, there is behind the little toe a large oblong piece 
of cartilage imbedded in the membrane or web, continued along the leg, which 
must be still more instrumental in keeping it extended. The tail is thick, conical, 
short, passing but slightly the carapace, and has the vent near the tip. 


Cotour. The shell above is umber coloured, more or less bright, and marked 
with large irregularly dusky blotches; these are circumscribed in the young, but 
are spread out with irregular margins in adults, and sometimes they disappear 
altogether and leave the shell of one uniform colour. The sternum is white, and 
beautifully marked with waving red lines, caused by the blood-vessels being seen 
through the transparent skin. 


The superior and lateral parts of the head and neck are umber coloured, the 
lips a little lighter; the inferior surface is dirty white, with a tinge of green, On 
each side of the head and behind the eye is a yellowish oblong blotch, bordered 


14 TRIONYX FEROX. 


with black, which in young individuals is bright, and continued towards the 
snout, but becomes more and more obscure as the animal increases in age. 


The extremities are umber coloured above, the webs tinged with green; below 
they are white, tinged with green, which latter colour prevails at the webs. 


Dimensions. The length of shell in the animal here represented was 16 inches; 
breadth, 12 inches; length of sternum, 103 inches; length of head, 23 inches; 
breadth, 2 inches; elevation of the animal, 3 inches. They sometimes are found 
of much greater dimensions. 


Hasirs. The Trionyx ferox, in the native state, is a voracious animal, feeding 
on fish, or such reptiles as he can secure, and is so greedy that he takes the hook 
readily when baited with whatever animal substance; yet in confinement, even of 
several months duration, I have never seen one take sustenance of any kind, 
though offered a variety of food. In the more southern rivers the Soft-shelled 
Turtle is said to destroy great numbers of young Alligators, and in turn they are 
devoured by the old. They reside most constantly in the water, swim with 
rapidity, and choose for their retreats holes under the banks of rivers, or under 
rocks; and not unfrequently the trunk of some huge forest tree, fallen into the 
stream, affords them shelter. Sometimes they leave the water and conceal them- 
selves in the mud; I have frequently seen them thus buried to the depth of two or 
three inches, leaving only a small breathing hole for the long neck, and narrow 
head, which it occasionally thrusts out, but most commonly has it retracted so 
that one would pass near without observing its habitation; and if seen, it might 
easily be mistaken for the residence of some large insect. At other times they 
may be seen in numbers on rocks in shallow water, basking in the sun, apparently 
asleep. In these situations, Dr. Geddings informs me, many are taken, by 
erecting a slight fence at some distance around them, or by placing other obstruc- 
tions between them and deep water, to cut off their retreat. 


The Trionyx ferox bites severely when provoked, darting forward with great 


TRIONYX FEROX. 15 


velocity his long neck and head, and not unfrequently springs upward at the same 
time, and makes a loud hiss. 


In the month of May the females seek sandy places along the banks of the 
waters they inhabit to lay their eggs, generally about sixty in number; and it is 
remarkable that, though their motions are slow and difficult on dry land, yet at 
this season they sometimes mount hillocks several feet high. 


The eggs once deposited, the female returns to the water, and leaves them to 
be hatched by the heat of the sun. The eggs, accordmg to Lesueur, who 
examined them on the Wabash, are spherical, with the shell more brittle than 
those of the Emydes inhabiting the same waters. 


Of all the Cheloniade, the flesh of the Trionyx ferox affords the most delicate 
food, surpassing that even of the Green Turtle. 


GeocrarHicaL Disrrisution. The Trionyx ferox affords an admirable illus- 
tration of the influence of physical geography in the distribution of animals. 
Thus, it inhabits the Savannah as well as all those rivers that empty into the 
northern borders of the Gulf of Mexico; it ascends up the broad Mississippi, and 
is found in all its tributaries, even to the very foot of the Rocky Mountains, 
according to Lewis and Clark; it abounds in the chain of great northern lakes 
both above and below the Falls of Niagara; and is “common” in the Mohawk, a 
tributary of the Hudson river; but is not found in any other Atlantic stream 
between that and the Savannah river, a distance of nearly eight hundred miles. 
Now a glance at the map of the United States will show us how this tortoise, 
doubtless originally a western species, and never migrating by land, can have 
passed by water from the Great Valley of the Mississippi to the northern lakes, 
and to the Mohawk and even Hudson river. At the source of St. Peter’s river in 
times of flood there is a free communication with Red river of Lake Winnipeg, 
(lat. 48°, Say, in Long’s Exp.;) which thus affords a passage for the Trionyx 
ferox to the Lake of the Woods. Again, the Upper Illinois is well known to 


16 TRIONYX FEROX. 


communicate with the waters of Lake Michigan in spring floods, so that even 
loaded boats may pass; and in this way does our animal reach the chain of 
lakes, that open into the St. Lawrence river. Lastly, previous to the construc- 
tion of the New York canal, Wood creek, at the head of the Mohawk, also at 
“spring floods” communicated with the waters of the Oswego river; and conse- 
quently there the Trionyx could pass to and become “common in the Mohawk,” 
and reach the Hudson, though absent from every other river opening into the 
Atlantic, between the St. Lawrence on the one hand, and Savannah river on the 
other. 


Generat Remarks. To Dr. Garden is due the merit of having first described 
the Trionyx ferox in a memoir communicated to Pennant, the celebrated English 
naturalist. This memoir was read before the Royal Society of London in the 
year 1771, and then published in the sixty-first volume of their 'Transactions. 
The description is accurate, and is accompanied by three tolerable drawings 
done from life, and giving three different views of the animal. How it obtained 
the specific name of Ferox, I cannot determine, unless it might be from its habits 
as described by Garden—“this animal is very fierce;”—and it is uncertain by 
whom it was first applied. It was not Pennant who thus named it, for he 
confined himself simply to the memoir of Dr. Garden—*A New Species of Fresh 
Water Turtle, commonly called the Soft-shelled Turtle’—and yet most authors 
refer this name to him. 


Twelve years after this, I find Schneider, for the first time, applying the specific 
name ferox to this animal, which seems now to have been consecrated by the 
general use of all naturalists, with one or two exceptions. Thus Geoffroy in 
establishing the genus Trionyx which has been adopted in this work, reproduces 
this animal under a new name, Trionyx georgicus, though his description is taken 
from Pennant. 


Lesueur next gives an accurate description and drawing of the Trionyx ferox, 
but under the name Trionyx spiniferus, from the knobs and spines on the carapace, 


TRIONYX FEROX. 17 


in which he is partly excusable, for he thought it might be a new species of 
Turtle; thus he says “it is possible that this animal (Trionyx spiniferus) may be 
the Trionyx ferox, but from its geographical distribution (Wabash river), he 
doubts it, as he has observed in the United States that even at short distances 
the same species no longer exist.” This is perfectly true as regards the Atlantic 
states, but much less so of the western, and if the geographical distribution be 
referred to it, it will readily be seen how widely extended in the west may be a 


species entirely aquatic. 


Dumeril and Bibron have lately adopted the specific name spiniferus for this 
animal, which I cannot retain, as that of ferox has the right of priority, having 
been in general use for nearly fifty years. 


They furthermore consider the Trionyx carinatus of Geoffroy, and the Trionyx 
Brogniartu of Schweigger, as merely the young of our animal, and the opinion of 
such excellent herpetologists is worthy of all credit, especially as they affirm that 
there is still preserved in the Museum of the Garden of Plants at Paris the 
identical specimens from which those descriptions were taken. 


It has always appeared to me that the “ereat Soft-shelled Turtle” of Bartram, 
and the Trionyx ferox were one and the same animal, for no other species than 
this has ever been received from Florida, with which country we have now 
almost daily communication. Leconte lived for a time on the St. John’s river, 
the very place where Bartram found his animal, yet he saw only the Trionyx 
ferox; and several officers of the army, who have been stationed in that country 
for years, and planters living on the banks of the river, have equally failed in 
finding the Soft-shelled Turtle with the long warts about the neck. Bartram, 
though a respectable botanist, was not an accurate zoologist, as his writings 
clearly enough show—the spines given to the neck are those that properly belong 
to the carapace, and the five nails represented as belonging to the extremities, 
are doubtless the result of careless observation—for there are five fingers and as 

Vor. II.—3 


18 TRIONYX FEROX. 


many toes, all perfectly well developed, and he might easily suppose each one 
furnished with a nail, unless he took the pains to examine them closely. 


Dumeril and Bibron are, I think, mistaken in supposing this animal of Bartram 
a fictitious one. They say it represents the body and head of a Trionyx, but 
that the feet and cutaneous appendages of the neck were taken from the Chelys 
matamata (fimbriata). This can hardly be, for though the Chelys matamata is 
mentioned in Barrére’s Natural History of Guiana, at that time called “La 
France Equinoxiale,” yet the first figure given of it was by Bruguiére in “Le 
Journal d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris,” for 1792, which is so good a one that it 
has been repeatedly copied by other naturalists, as Schoepff, &. Now Bartram’s 
work was published in Philadelphia in 1791, consequently he cannot be accused 
of this deception. Bartram was an honest, upright, though somewhat over 
credulous naturalist. 


I can adopt neither the generic name Aspedonectes of Wagler, nor that of 
Gymnopus of Dumeril; for though it might be necessary to subdivide the genus 
Trionyx to accommodate all the species with soft shells and three nails, yet in 
that case I would follow the example of Gray and Bell and retain the name 
Trionyx for the typical form, as it has been consecrated by time, and apply the 
new epithet of Amyda, or Aspedonectes, to those that vary from it in proportion 
of parts, &c., as these should be considered as abnormal forms. 


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19 


TRIONYX MUTICUS.—Lesueur. 
Plate I. 


Cuaracters. Shell sub-round, ecarinate, entire, and without spines or tubercles. 


Synonymes. Trionyx muticus, Lesweur, Mem. du Mus. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xv. p. 263, 
tab. vil. 
Trionyx muticus, Leconte, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y., vol. iii. p. 95. 
Trionyx muticus, Gray, Synop. Rep., p. 46. 
Trionyx muticus, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 159. 
Gymnopus muticus, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. ii. p. 482. 


Description. The shell is sub-round, entire, slightly arched, smooth or without 
spines on its anterior border, and without tubercles on the superior surface either 
of its anterior or posterior cartilagmous margin. 


The sternum is similar in form to that of the Trionyx ferox. 


The head is oval, less elevated at the forehead than in the last species, with 
the snout equally prolonged, and the nares at its anterior extremity. The nostrils 
are, however, very differently disposed, being large, closely approximated, and of 
an elliptical form, the larger portion below, and the long axes of the ellipses 
converging from below upwards and forwards. The eyes are near; the pupil 
black, and the iris of pale lemon colour, with a dusky bar. ‘The jaws are similar 
to those of the Trionyx ferox, but more poimted and narrow; the lips are more 
developed, and the mouth larger in proportion. 


The anterior extremities are short, thick, flattened, and have several scales at 


20 TRIONYX MUTICUS. 


the fore-arm; the fingers are five in number, fully palmate, the three anterior alone 
provided with nails. The posterior extremities are short, flat, especially at the 
tarsus, which sustains five toes, fully palmate, the web even reaching along the 
posterior margin of the leg; the three anterior toes only are provided with nails; 
the two posterior extend the web; behind the little toe is seen a large scale. 
The tail is still shorter than in the Trionyx ferox; it seldom passes beyond the 


disk, and has the anus at the tip. 


Cotour. The whole superior surface of the head, neck and extremities of the 
animal is light umber coloured, marked here and there with numerous minute and 


irregular dark spots. 


The sternum is white, with reddish lines, caused by the blood-vessels, with a 
slight bluish tinge on the bony portion. The inferior surface of the extremities 
is also white, but with a tinge of blue. The membrane of the feet or web is 
bordered with yellow. 


Dimensions. Length of head, 1} inches; length of shell, 9 inches; breadth, 8 
inches; elevation, 3 inches. 


Hasirs. The habits of this species are similar to those of the Trionyx ferox. 


GeocraruicaL Distrisution. ‘This animal has only yet been found in the 
Mississippi or its tributary streams. 


Genera Remarks. The Trionyx muticus, which was first noticed by Lesueur, 
though closely allied with the Trionyx ferox, is perfectly distinct, and is easily 
recognised by the total absence of spines or tubercles on the cartilaginous portion 
of the shell. Leconte, however, says he “cannot as yet consider it perfectly 
distinct,” and this observation of his doubtless led several European naturalists to 
adopt the same opinion. Though the distinctive marks applied to this species by 


TRIONYX MUTICUS. 91 


Lesueur are some of them common to the Trionyx ferox, and others are not 
always present, still he gives two characters which always exist. 


1. The total absence of spines or tubercles; and this is by no means the result 
of age, for they are never seen in large or small, young or old; whereas the spines 
always exist in the Trionyx ferox, even on those not over three inches in extent, 
as I have had abundant occasion to observe. 


2. The great difference of the nostrils, as above described, which is equally 
constant. And to these others might be added; as, the difference in size; difference 
of geographical distribution, having never been found to the east of the Alleghany 
range of mountains, Wc. 


I have never yet had an opportunity of examining thoroughly this animal, as 
might be desired, to study its internal structure; yet Troost writes me, that its 
bony system differs in many remarkable points from that of the Trionyx ferox. 


These are the only species of Trionyx that I am as yet prepared to admit into 
the catalogue of reptiles inhabiting the United States. The Trionyx ocellatus of 
Lesueur I consider only as the young of the Trionyx ferox, having had frequent 
opportunities of observing them. 


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Fammy IV. THALLASSITES.* Dumeril et Bibron. 


CHARACTERS. 


. The shell is depressed and sub-cordiform. 


. The head is large and sub-quadrilateral, in some (Chelonia) covered with 
plates; in others (Sphargis) with a coriaceous skin. 


. The neck is short, thick, and not retractile. 


. The extremities are of unequal extent, the anterior having twice the length of 
the posterior. Both are greatly elongated, and so depressed or flattened, 
that the bones of the hands and feet, although formed of separate pieces, 
are incapable of distinct motion upon each other, but make a strong fin, 


useful only in swimming. ‘Two genera are included in this family, Chelonia 
and Sphargis. 


* Oznarctes, bararrics, In mari frequens. 


V. 2—3* 


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Chelonia mydas 


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Socking. tel. 3 
. 


. CHELONIA —Brogniart. 


Genus Cueron1a.—Cuaracters. Shell large, sub-cordiform; sternum entire; 
anterior extremities twice the length of posterior; bones of carpus and fingers, 
as well as of tarsus and toes, flattened and united, in form of a fin or paddle. 


CHELONIA MYDAS.—Linnzus. 
Plate IU. 


Cuaracters. Head sub-oval; snout short and rounded; upper jaw slightly 
emarginate in front; lower jaw covered with three corneous portions, cutting 
margin deeply serrated, and furnished with a hook in front; shell sub-cordiform, 
smooth, covered with thirteen vertebral and lateral plates, not imbricated; a single 
nail to each extremity. 


Synonrmes. La Tortue franche, Dutertre, Hist. des Antil., tom. il. p. 227. 
Green Turtle, Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. ii. p. 38, pl. xxxviii. 
Green Turtle, Brown, Hist. Jam., p. 465. 
La Tortue franche, Lacépede, Quad. Ovip., tom. i. p. 54, fig. 1. 
La Tortue a écailles vertes, Lacéptde, Loc. Cit., p. 92. 
Testudo mydas, Linnzus, Syst. Nat., tom. ii. p. 350. 
Testudo mydas, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. Lin., tom. i. part iii. p. 1037. 
Testudo mydas, Schoepff, Hist. Test., p. 73, tab. xvii. p. 2. 
Testudo mydas, Latreille, Hist. Nat. Rept., tom. i. p. 22, tab. i. fig. 1. 
Testudo mydas, Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. ii. p. 10, pl. xvi. 
Testudo mydas, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii. part i. p. S0, pl. xxii. 
Chelonia mydas, Schweigger, Prod. Arch. Koénigsb., tom, i. p. 412. 
Vor. th—-# 


°%% CHELONIA MYDAS. 


Caretta esculenta, Mervem, Versuch eines Syst. der Amphib., p. 18. 
Caretta mydas, Fitzinger, Neue Class. der Rept., p. 44. 

Chelonia mydas, Gray, Synops. Rept., p. 52. 

Chelonia mydas, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. ii. p. 538. 
Green Turtle, Vulgo. 


Description. The shell is sub-cordiform, broader in front, narrower and slightly 
notched and serrated behind. Above the neck the anterior margin of the shell is 
curved inwards, and over the anterior extremities on each side is a similar curva- 
ture, but less distinct, and the whole is covered with thirteen vertebral and lateral 
plates. The anterior vertebral plate is irregularly hexagonal, broad before, narrow 
behind, with a notch in its posterior margin; the second is narrow, hexagonal, with 
projecting lateral angles, its posterior border slightly concave, and its anterior 
with a pointed angle that is received into the first vertebral plate; the third and 
fourth are also hexagonal, with similar lateral angles, and with their anterior 
borders but slightly rounded; the fifth is irregularly heptagonal, broader below, 
narrow and prolonged above. The first lateral plate is irregularly quadrilateral, 
rounded in front and below; the second and third are quadrilateral, and so is the 
fourth, regularly, but smaller. There are twenty-five marginal plates; the nuchal, 
or intermediate, is irregularly quadrilateral, its posterior margin twice the extent 
of the anterior, which is arched inwards; the first marginal is small and triangular, 
with its basis before and apex behind, truncate, and joined by a short border to 
the anterior vertebral; the second marginal is elongated-pentagonal, and passes in 
above the first to the anterior vertebral; the remaining marginal plates are very 
regularly quadrilateral to the eleventh, which is pentagonal, and the twelfth, or 
supra-caudal, is of trapezoid form. 


The sternum is long, oval, broad, entire, full and rounded before, full and entire 
but smaller behind. ‘The inter-gular plate is a small, equilateral triangle, with its 
basis before; the gular are isosceles triangles, with their bases forwards and out- 
wards; the brachial are elongated-quadrilateral, narrowest within; the thoracic 
are large, broad, and hexagonal, with their three shortest borders external; the 


CHELONIA MYDAS. 27 


abdominal are nearly of the same form, but larger; the femoral are heptagonal, 
while the sub-caudal are regularly triangular, with their bases outwards and back- 
wards, with an exceedingly minute, triangular, inter-subcaudal plate, from which 
reaches a row of larger scales or plates towards the vent. There are four large 
supplemental plates, with several smaller ones; of the larger plates the anterior 
is quadrilateral, and joined to the thoracic; the second is pentagonal, and joins 
within to the thoracic and abdominal; the third is regularly quadrilateral, and 
connected also internally with the abdominal; the fourth is rounded, hexagonal, 
with its internal margin united to the abdominal and femoral; besides this, it has 
a smaller triangular plate joined to its outer and posterior border; there are still 
some supernumerary plates, variable in number, extending between the sternum 
and carapace, placed in a row along the outer margin of the gular, brachial, and 
thoracic plates; one of these is largest of all, and is extended between the brachial 


and thoracic. 


The head is moderately large, oval, slightly compressed at the sides; the snout 
rounded, with the nostrils anterior but directed a little upwards. Above and at 
the sides the head is covered with numerous plates of various sizes; of these the 
vertical is rounded, pentagonal; the superior orbital are oblong; the frontal are 
hexagonal, broad and rounded; the anterior frontal are also hexagonal, but are 
narrower and elongated, broader behind, with their longest margin within. The 
occipital plates are three in number; the anterior broad and heptagonal, the two 
posterior are equally broad but trapezoid. The walls of the orbit of the eye are 
completed in front and below by the corneous part of the upper jaw, and behind, 
by three or four small polygonal posterior orbital plates, back of which are seen 
ten or twelve small polygonal temporal plates, arranged in three perpendicular 
rows. The eyes are prominent; the eye-lids are well developed, and open 
obliquely from above downwards and forwards; the upper lid is large, heavy, and 
covered with eight or ten small plates, disposed in rows; the pupil is dark sea-blue; 
the iris golden, and in general reticulated and spotted with dusky, but it varies a 
good deal in different individuals. The upper jaw is slightly emarginate in front 


28 CHELONIA MYDAS. 


and serrated at the sides; the lower is covered with three corneous portions, is 
deeply serrated at the cutting margin and furnished with a hook in front. 


The anterior extremities are long, rounded at the shoulder, and covered with a 
tough skin and a few small plates; while the fore-arm, carpus and fingers are 
flattened like a fin, and are covered with large strong polygonal plates on the 
anterior border, and with smaller plates above and below; along the posterior 
margin of the fore-arm and carpus is extended a fold of skin, capable of being 
distended when the limb is stretched, or folded when it is flexed; in this are 
imbedded five or six large plates, quadrilateral or polygonal. ‘There is one nail 
or horny point at the first joimt of the anterior finger, of variable size, and 
sometimes slightly curved. The posterior extremity is short, rounded above, but 
flattened at the tarsus like a paddle, and covered like the anterior, but with 
smaller plates, and a fold of skin still more extensive on the posterior margin. 
The tail is short, thick, clumsy; covered with small, soft, flexible plates above, and 
has the vent near its tip. 


Cotour. ‘The plates on the superior surface of the head are light brown in the 
centre, with the spaces between them yellow; those on the sides of the head are 
of similar colour, but are margined with yellow, which gives a yellow tinge to the 
temporal region; the neck above is dusky, and yellow near the shell, below it is 
yellow; the shell is light brown above, sometimes it approaches a dark fawn 
colour, marked with radiating or waving lines, or large blotches of dark brown— 
sometimes it is tinged with green. The sternum is delicate pale yellowish-white. 
The extremities and tail above are coloured like the shell, rather more dusky; 
below they are yellowish-white, tinged with green, and dusky near their tips. 


Dimensions. The dimensions in the individual here described, were as follows: 
length of head, 43 inches; breadth of head, 24 inches; length of shell, 19 inches; 


breadth, 14 inches; length of sternum, 12} inches; yet it frequently reaches a 
much greater size. 


CHELONIA MYDAS. 29 


~ 


Hasirs. The Chelonia mydas lives mostly in deep water, feeding on marine 
plants, especially one called turtle-grass, (Zostera marina;) this, according to 
Audubon, they cut near the roots, to procure the most tender and succulent part, 
which alone is eaten, while the rest of the plant floats to the surface, and is there 
collected in large fields, a sure indication that the feeding-ground of the Green 
Turtle is near. In confinement, however, they eat readily enough purslain, 
(Portulacca oleracea,) and even grow fat on this nourishment. 


Green Turtles are very seldom seen to approach the land, unless at certain 
seasons to lay their eggs; in the months of April and May, great numbers seek 
for this purpose the sandy shores of desolate islands, or the uninhabited banks of 
certain rivers, where they are least liable to interruption in their work of repro- 
duction. The Tortugas islands are a favourite haunt: these are four or five 
uninhabited sand banks, which are only visited by turtlers and wreckers. 
Between these islands are deep channels, so that the Turtles come at once to 
good landing. They are not confined however to these islands, but are found 
abundantly on other keys and inlets on the main. The female arrives by night, 
slowly and cautiously she approaches the shore, and if undisturbed, crawls at 
once over the sand above high water mark; here with her fins she digs a hole one 
or two feet deep, in which she lays her eggs, between one and two hundred in 
number. These she “arranges in the most careful manner, and then scoops the 
loose sand back over the eggs, and so levels and smooths the surface, that few 
persons on seeing the spot could imagine any thing had been done to it.”°* This 
accomplished, she retreats speedily to the water, leaving the eggs to be hatched 
by the heat of the sun, which is generally accomplished in about three weeks. 
Two or three times in the season does the female return to nearly the same spot 
and deposit nearly the same number of eggs, so that the whole amount annually 
would be four or five hundred; and it is not a little singular, that animals so low 
in the scale of creation, should have the instinct to return to these haunts from 
great distances, hundreds and even thousands of miles, in some instances in three 


* Audubon’s Ornithological Biography, vol. vi. p. 373. 


30 CHELONIA MYDAS. 


weeks. Dr. Strobel informed me that several Turtles were captured at Tortugas, 
marked, and carried to Key West, there confined in a turtle-pen or “crawl,” 
which was destroyed by a storm; the animals escaped, and in a few days were 
recaptured at the Tortugas. During the actual time of incubation Turtles may 
be approached without caution, for they are then so intent on this work of repro- 
duction, that nothing will disturb them. 


It is during the breeding season that these animals suffer most from their 
enemies; they are then taken in a variety of ways and are brought to our markets 
in immense numbers, being held in high estimation as a wholesome and delicious 
food. Many are caught at night on shore; these are turned on their backs, nor 
can they resume their natural position, in consequence of the shortness of their 
necks, and peculiar arrangement of their fins, and thus they remain until they can 
be leisurely collected the next day. Some are harpooned in the water; and great 
nets are spread for others at the entrance of creeks and rivers. Many are 
also taken by an instrument called a peg, which has been in common use since the 
time of Catesby, who thus describes the process. “The way in which Turtles are 
most commonly taken, is by striking them with a small iron peg of two inches 
long, put in a socket at the end of a staff twelve feet long; two men usually set 
out for this work in a light boat or canoe, one to row and gently steer the boat, 
while the other stands at the head of it with his striker. The Turtles are some- 
times discovered by these men with their head and back out of the water, but they 
are more often found lying at the bottom, a fathom or more deep. If a Turtle 
perceives he is discovered, he starts up to make his escape, the men in the boat 
pursuing him, endeavour to keep sight of him, which they often lose, and recover 
again by the Turtle putting his nose out of the water to breathe. It is sometimes 
half an hour before he is tired, when he sinks at once to the bottom, and this 
gives them an opportunity of striking him, which is done by piercing him with an 
iron peg, which slips out of the socket, but is fastened by a string to the pole. If 
spent and tired, he tamely submits when struck to be taken into the boat and 
hauled ashore.” 


CHELONIA MYDAS. 31 


Audubon observes that he saw a man who, with his peg, had been known to 
secure eight hundred Green Turtles in one year—an immense number certainly. 
When taken, they are kept in pens, called “crawls,” that are so placed in the 
water as to be filled at every flood tide; and here they remain until sold. A 
still more wholesale mode of destruction is practised by robbing the nests of 
their eggs. The “egger” uses a small stiff rod, with which he “probes” the sand 
in those places where Turtles usually deposit their eggs; and in this way myriads 
are collected, as may be supposed, when it is recollected that many hundreds of 
Turtles lay their eggs on a small space of sand bank. The “eggers,” however, 
do not confine their depredations to the nests of the Green Turtles, but they seize 
upon those of all other species, as well as upon the eggs of thousands of sea 
birds that seek the same localities during their breeding season.” 


But man is not their only enemy; many eggs are destroyed by Racoons, and 
many young ones fall a prey to various rapacious aquatic birds, before they 
reach the water; and many more, even after they have reached it, are devoured by 
ravenous fishes. 


Geocraruicat Distrieution. The Chelonia mydas inhabits the sea coast of 
the extreme southern points of the United States; it has been seldom found as far 
as latitude 34, which must be considered its northern limit. 


Generat Remarks. It is a little doubtful if Linneus had our animal in view 
when he gave the specific characters of his Testudo mydas, but it is so considered 
by many naturalists, and almost all have adopted the name. 


As yet I am not prepared to receive into the catalogue of North American 
reptiles the Chelonia virgata of Cuvier, described by Dumeril and Bibron, as well 
as by Cocteau in Ramon de Lasagra’s “Histoire de l’Isle de Cuba,” as 
inhabiting our shores. That such an animal may exist in the Red Sea, as 


* Audubon, loc. cit., p. 373. 


32 CHELONIA MYDAS. 


observed by Bruce, is probable enough, but with us all the Green Turtles that 
have ever fallen under my observation appertained to one species, the Chelonia 
mydas; this animal however varies much in shape at different epochs of life: the 
carapace is broader in the young, and the vertebral plates are then more 
extensive transversely, as in the Chelonia virgata. ‘They vary also exceedingly 
in colour, so that of hundreds that I have frequently seen together scarcely two 
could be selected of precisely similar colours; some were marked as above stated; 
others were darker; some with the shell radiated with dark or with hght brown; 
others had an olive hue; while in the old animals a remarkable tinge of green 
prevailed over the whole superior surface of the body; and some young specimens 
I have seen marked with colours similar to the Chelonia imbricata, and nearly as 


beautiful; so that colour alone, as in the Cistuda Carolina, is here insufficient to 
distinguish species. 


v? hag 


Chelonia caretta. 


2S Duwi, Lith. Plerl* 


re Pine 


33 


CHELONTA. CARETTA.—Linnzus. 


cS Plate IV. 


Cuaracters. Head of great size; upper jaw nearly straight; lower jaw more 
or less hooked; shell elongated, sub-cordiform, smooth, with a crescentic notch in 
the posterior border; vertebral plates five; lateral plates ten, not imbricated; mar- 
ginal twenty-five; two spines to each extremity. 


Synonymes. Loggerhead Turtle, Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. ii. p. 40, pl. xl. 
Testudo caretta, Linnzus, Syst. Nat., tom. 1. p. 351. 
Testudo ecaretta, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. Lin., tom. i. part iii. p. 1038. 
La Caouana, Lacépede, Quad. Ovip., tom. i. p. 96. 
Testudo caretta, Schoen ff, Hist. Test., p. 67, tab. xvi. 
Testudo caretta, Latreille, Hist. Nat. Rept., tom. i. p. 53. 
Testudo caouana, Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. ii. p. 54, tab. xvi. fig. 2. 
Testudo caretta, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii. part i. p. 85, pl. xxiil., xxiv., Xxv. 
Chelonia caouana, Schweigger, Prod. Arch. Kénigsb., vol. i. p. 292, 418. 
Caretta cephalo, Merrem, Versuch eines Syst. der Amphib., p. 18. 
Chelonia caouana, Wagler, Natiirlich. Syst. der Amphib., p. 133. 
Chelonia caouana, Gray, Synops. Rept., p. 53. 
Chelonia caouana, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. ii. p. 552. 
Loggerhead Turtle, Vulgo. 


Description. The shell is sub-cordiform, slightly concave in front and over the 
shoulder, and with a deep crescentic notch behind. The anterior vertebral plate 
is hexagonal, with its largest border in front, and slightly arched forwards, and is 
most extensive in the transverse direction. The second and third plates are 


hexagonal, elongated, much the most extensive in the longitudinal direction, with 
Vou. I.—5 


34 CHELONIA CARETTA. 


short lateral angles, connected with the adjoining lateral plates; the fourth 
vertebral is also hexagonal, but shorter, and with lateral angles more extended; 
the fifth vertebral plate is pentagonal, slightly concave in front, with extensive 
lateral margins and four articulating facets below. In the old animal all these 
plates are nearly on an horizontal plane; the first being but very little curved 
downwards in front, and the fifth as little behind. The lateral plates are five in 
number, the first is smallest, with regularly triangular margins, and its basis 
directed forwards and downwards; the second is irregularly quadrilateral, rounded 
below and in front; the third and fourth are pentagonal, with two short borders 
above, meeting at an obtuse angle; the fifth lateral plate is irregularly quadri- 
lateral, broader below, or it has its posterior and inferior angle truncated where 
it joins the eleventh marginal, which gives it a pentagonal form. 


Of the twenty-five marginal plates, the intermediate, or nuchal, is short in the 
longitudinal, and more than three times as large in the transverse direction; it is 
small in the middle, slightly concave behind, and much more so in front, and large 
at its lateral extremities, each having two articulating surfaces, an upper smaller, 
to join with the first lateral, and a lower larger, to unite with the first marginal 
plate. The anterior marginal is irregularly quadrilateral and arched outwards; 
the second is also quadrilateral, but concave in front; this and part of the fourth 
making a border arched inwards over the anterior extremities; the third is irregu- 
larly quadrilateral, smaller above, larger below; the remaining marginal plates to 
the eleventh included, are quadrilateral, and make an entire border, sometimes 
waving, between the tenth and eleventh; the twelfth or supra-caudal plates are 
sub-rhomboidal, and have a deep crescentic notch between them at their posterior 
margin. 


The sternum is very full and rounded in front, smaller, but rounded behind. 
The gular plates are large equilateral triangles, with their outer border rounded; 
the brachial are regularly pentagonal, and so are the thoracic plates, but elon- 
gated; the abdominal are broad and pentagonal; the femoral are also pentagonal, 
but very irregularly so, having their posterior and external border concave; the 


CHELONIA CARETTA. 35 


sub-caudal are triangular, with their outer borders rounded. There are four 
principal supplemental plates, the anterior of which is small, and does not reach 
the sternum; the three others are very large; the second is pentagonal, and joins 
the thoracic; the third is quadrilateral, and unites with the abdominal; the fourth 
is trapezoid, and is connected both with the abdominal and femoral plates; besides 
these, there are some smaller plates that border the brachial and thoracic; the two 
larger of which connect the second supplemental with the anterior border of the 
thoracic plate, but none reach the shell. 


The head is extremely large, broad behind, rather rounded in front, and covered 
above with about twenty polygonal plates of various sizes. The vertical is 
small and hexagonal; on each side it has the superior orbital, which are elongated, 
pentagonal and broadest within; behind these are the posterior superior orbital, 
one on each side, of similar form but larger without; behind these again, and on the 
same longitudinal line, are the parietal plates, of irregular pentagonal form; in 
the midst of all these plates, and united to all, is a large broad occipital, having 
two or three small plates on its posterior border. ‘There are three posterior 
orbital plates; the superior of which is pentagonal and large, the middle is 
hexagonal and nearly of the same size; the inferior is largest of all, oblong, and 
makes part of the inferior wall of the orbit; behind these are four longitudinal 
rows of temporal plates, varying in size and number; the frontal are large and 
pentagonal, the nasal are small and hexagonal, with a narrow elongated trapezoid 
inter-nasal plate, which is continued back between the anterior part of the frontal. 
The upper jaw is protected by a thick horny covering, rounded in front and 
broad, narrow behind and reaching under the orbit of the eye. 


The nostrils are anterior, near together, and placed in a cartilaginous substance 
that occupies the space between the nasal plates and the horny covering of the 
upper jaw. The eyes are large and prominent; the lids are covered with small 
plates, and open obliquely from behind downward and forward; the pupil is deep 
sea-blue, with a dusky grey iris. The upper jaw is strong, nearly a straight line, 
being but slightly bent downwards in front; the lower jaw is equally firm and 


36 CHELONIA CARETTA. 


strong, and is more or less hooked or turned upwards in front. The neck is 
short, very thick and strong, and covered with a granulated skin and minute 
flexible plates both above and below. 


The anterior extremities are long and powerful, rounded at the shoulder, 
covered with a tough skin and with a few scattered minute flexible plates, 
depressed and flattened like a fin at the fore-arm, carpus and fingers, and covered 
with large square pentagonal plates. A remarkable range of these exists along 
the anterior border; while the posterior margin is bordered with a loose fold of 
skin capable of distention, in which are placed here and there large plates; in 
front there are two spines or nails, corresponding with the two first fingers, and 
of these the first is largest and often hooked. ‘These nails vary in extent; some- 
times they are more than an inch Jong. The posterior extremities are much 
shorter, rounded above, covered in like manner, and only become flattened like a 
paddle toward the tarsus and toes, where alone are found large plates. ‘The 
posterior extremity is also armed with two spines; but these are smaller, shorter 
and near together. ‘The tail is short, thick, and conical. 


Cotour. The plates of the head are yellowish-chestnut or olive-brown in their 
centre, but have their margins so yellow as to give a strong tinge to the whole; 
the jaws are yellowish horn-colour. The plates of the shell are light brown, 
varying in degree, and have sometimes a tinge of olive, and are often bordered 
with a dirty yellowish tinge; the marginal have it more distinctly, which gives to 
the whole shell a strong shade of yellow; the young are at times coloured not 
unlike the Green Turtle; in very old animals the whole shell becomes dusky olive, 
as seen in the accompanying figure, and the shell is covered with various 
parasitic animals, as Serpule, Balani, and other multivalve shells, &c.; the upper 
surface of the extremities, and tail is dusky along their centre, but yellow on the 
borders; the inferior surface of the whole animal is yellow, more or less clouded. 


Dimensions. Length of head, 124 inches; breadth of head, 10 inches; length of 
shell, 3 feet 6 inches; breadth of shell, 34 inches; length of sternum, 28 inches. 


CHELONIA CARETTA. 37 


This is the largest species of Tortoise with a hard shell; sometimes weighing, it 
is said, sixteen hundred pounds. The young animal varies considerably from the 
adult in shape and colour; the shell is shorter and broader in proportion; the 
vertebral plates have each a tubercle, which forms a distinct carima; the lateral 
have similar tubercles, but smaller, and these finally disappear as the Tortoise 
advances in years; the posterior and external angles of most of the marginal 
plates project so much as to give a serrated appearance to more than half of the 
posterior part of the shell. The jaws, though equally strong in proportion to the 
size of the animal, are both but slightly hooked in front, the inferior most so. 
The colour of the young differs in having the chestnut-brown more distinct and 
often radiated with yellowish or lighter brown. 


Hasirs. This animal is much bolder than the Chelonia mydas, and lives 
altogether on animal food; it is extremely voracious, and devours great quantities 
of shell-fish, as the various Buccini and Trochi, especially a large conch 
(Strombus) which it breaks easily between its stout mandibles. It is a strong 
swimmer, and is frequently seen in the midst of the ocean, floating on the surface 
of the waves, motionless, and apparently asleep; in which situation they are 
often captured. 


GrocrapuicaL Distrisution. This animal has a much wider range than the 
Green Turtle, and is found on the shores of nearly all the Atlantic states, and 
frequently lays its eggs on the southern aspect of sandy shoals, along the coast of 
Georgia, Carolina and Virginia. Though much more wary and shy in its habits 
than the Chelonia mydas, yet it takes far less pains in seeking out retired and 
desolate spots to deposit its eggs. 


GeneraLt Remarks. The Loggerhead has the same enemies to contend with 
as the Green Turtle; though he is sought after with little ardour, as his flesh is so 
rank and tough that it is nearly unfit for nourishment, especially in old animals, 
and their shells cannot be used in the arts; yet the war against their eggs is 
equally exterminating, as they are as good food as those of any other species. 


38 CHELONIA CARETTA. 


Sometimes the young are brought to our markets, and are considered tolerable 
food; or the old animal is cut up and sold in pieces by the pound, as is sometimes 
the better kind of Turtle, but only to people unacquainted with the appearance of 
the flesh, and then the venders conceal the head, to escape detection. 


To Dr. B. B. Strobel I am indebted for a singular variety of this animal, if it 
should not prove a distinct species. The form of the body is nearly the same, 
but the margin of the shell is entire posteriorly; the neck is short, with a large 
fleible wart on either side. The animal came from Key West, and was 
unfortunately destroyed before a full description could be made out. 


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Chelonia imbricata 


7. 


39 


CHELONIA IMBRICATA.—ZDinnzus. 
Plate V. 


Cuaracters. Head elongated, narrow; snout prolonged; jaws without serre, 
both hooked; shell oval; slightly carmate, sub-cordiform, concave in front, 
flattened and serrated behind, and covered with thirteen vertebral and lateral 
plates, remarkably imbricated; two nails to each extremity. 


Synonymes. La Tortue caret, Dutertre, Hist. des Ant., tom. ii. p. 229. 
Hawksbill Turtle, Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. ii. p. 39, tab. xxxix. 
Hawksbill Turtle, Brown, Hist. Jam., p. 463. 

Testudo imbricata, Linnzus, Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 350. 

Le caret, Lacépéede, Hist. des Quad. Ovip., tom, i. p. 105, tab. ii. 

Testudo imbricata, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. Lin., tom. i. p. 1036. 

Testudo imbricata, Schoepff, Hist. Test., p. 85, tab. xviii. 

Testudo imbricata, Latredlle, Hist. Nat. Rept., tom. i. p. 50. 

Testudo carretta, Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. ii. p. 39. 

Testudo imbricata, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii. part i. p. 89, pl. xxvi. xxvii. 
Caretta imbricata, Merrem, Versuch eines Syst. der Amphib., p. 19. 
Chelonia imbricata, Schweigger, Prod. Arch. Kénigsb., vol. i. p. 291 and 408. 
Chelonia imbricata, Gray, Synop. Rept., p. 52. 

Chelonia imbricata, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. il. p. 547. 
Chelonia imbricata, Cocteau, Hist. de |’Isle de Cuba, par Ramon de Lasagra, p. 28. 
Hawkbill Turtle, Vudgo. 


Description. The shell is depressed, oval or sub-cordiform, almost ecarinate, 
slightly concave in front and over the shoulders, flattened, narrow and serrated 
behind, and covered with thirteen plates, imbricated like tiles on the roof of a 
house. Of these plates the first vertebral is irregularly hexagonal, larger in front 


40 CHELONIA IMBRICATA. 


and slightly prominent in the centre; the second and third are also hexagonal, with 
their anterior margins concave and slightly rounded behind, to fit the adjoining 
plates; the fourth is similar in form, but broad before and narrow behind; the fifth 
is irregularly trapezoid; the first lateral plate is irregularly quadrilateral, longest 
in the transverse direction, and rounded at its anterior and external margin; the 
second and third are pentagonal; the fourth is quadrilateral and smaller, with its 
posterior border shortest; of the marginal plates, the nuchal, or intermediate, is 
irregularly quadrilateral, extensive transversely, narrow at the middle, and concave 
in front; the first marginal is irregularly triangular, with its external angle curved; 
the second is quadrilateral, as well as the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh, 
and more or less elongated; the eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh have their outer 
and posterior angles more and more developed, and projecting beyond the adjoin- 
ing plates; the twelfth are trapezoidal, with a deep notch between them, which 
gives a serrated appearance to the posterior margin of the shell more or less 
distinct: these plates are all imbricated, and smooth, but in old age they some- 
times become wrinkled. 


The sternum is large, full, entire in front and behind, but hollow and depressed 
along the mesial region; the inter-gular plate is small, triangular, with a rounded 
base directed forwards; the gular are irregularly quadrilateral, elongated outwards 
and forwards; the brachial are irregularly quadrilateral, large, and most so in the 
transverse direction, with their anterior and external angles truncated; the thoracic 
and abdominal are quadrilateral and very extensive, most so transversely; the 
femoral are also broad, but are irregularly quadrilateral, having their posterior 
and external angles truncated; the sub-caudal are irregularly trigonal and elon- 
gated; of the supplemental plates, the axillary is irregularly pentagonal, the 
inguinal is quadrilateral, and between these are two quadrilateral or pentagonal 
plates that unite the abdominal and femoral with the marginal. 


The head is oval, elongated, compressed at the sides, and very narrow in front 
of the eyes. The upper jaw is greatly prolonged, and hooked anteriorly, like the 
beak of a hawk, from which circumstance the common name of the animal is 


CHELONIA IMBRICATA. 41 


derived. The lower jaw is also elongated, and furnished in front with a smaller 
or less developed hook or tooth; and both have their cutting margins entire or 
without serre. 


The vertical plate is hexagonal, very large, and is joined before to the frontal, 
behind to the occipital, and laterally to the superior orbital, which are oblong and 
of hexagonal form; the frontal plate is large, hexagonal, with its greatest extent 
in the antero-posterior direction, and joined before to the anterior frontal plates, 
and behind to the superior orbital; there are two anterior frontal plates of similar 
form, but very small, and largest transversely; the nasal are minute and penta- 
gonal; there are four occipital, the internal are larger and quadrilateral; the 
external are smaller and of triangular shape; there are two parietal that unite 
with the superior orbital plates; and three very small posterior orbital plates, the 
upper quadrilateral and larger; behind these there are several polygonal temporal 
plates. 


The nostrils are small, anterior, and closely approximated. The eyelids are 
large, the upper by far the greater, and covered with some large flexible scales; 
they open obliquely from above, downwards and forwards. The eyes are large 
and prominent; the pupil deep sea-blue; the iris golden, reticulated with light 
brown. 


The anterior extremities are very long, though not broad, and are not unlike 
the wings of an eagle in shape; at the shoulder they are covered with small 
flexible plates; at the fore-arm, carpus and fingers the plates are much larger and 
of variable form; a row of large plates, slightly imbricated, ten or twelve in 
number, are placed on the anterior border; those along the fore-arm are 
hexagonal; those at the fingers are rather quadrilateral; on the posterior margin 
is a fold of skin, in which are placed several large, elongated, quadrilateral plates; 
in front there are two elongated nails. The posterior extremities are half the 
length of the anterior, rather rounded at the thigh, but flattened like a paddle at 
the tarsus and toes, and are covered like the anterior, but with smaller plates, 

Vou. I1.—6 


42 CHELONIA IMBRICATA. 


and are also furnished with two elongated nails. The tail is short, conical and 
covered with soft flexible plates, disposed without order. 


Cotour. The plates of the head are chestnut-brown in the centre, sometimes 
tinged with red, with their margins of lighter colour; the jaws are yellowish, with 
occasional bars of brown; the neck above is dusky; the chin and throat yellow; 
the plates of the shell are fawn colour, more or less bright, and marked with 
radiating or waving bars or spots or blotches, of variable size, and beautiful 
bright chestnut-brown; the sternum is yellow; the extremities and tail are coloured 
above like the shell, but more dusky, and are dingy-yellow below. 


Dimensions. The dimensions of the animal here described were as follows: 
length of head, 5 inches; length of shell, 18 inches; length of sternum, 114 inches. 
They sometimes, however, approach the Green Turtle in size. 


Hasrrs. In their native condition I am not aware that the habits of this 
animal differ from those of the Chelonia caretta; they seek similar localities and 
the same food, but in confinement they seem much more ferocious: I have 
observed them bite severely the Chelonia mydas, when swimming together in the 
same reservoir, though the other gave no offence; nor did he offer retaliation for 
the injury received. 


GrocrarnicaL Distrieution. The Chelonia imbricata is found only at the 
extreme southern points of the United States; once only I knew a fine specimen 
driven to the shores of Carolina during an equinoxial storm. 


Generat Remarks. This animal is only esteemed for the substance it affords 
called “Tortoise-shell,” which is but the lamina or plates that cover the bony 
shell. Other species of Chelonia have a similar covering, but in no other are 
these plates sufficiently thick to be of any value in the arts. These lamina are 
obtained by exposing the convex portion of the shell to a certain degree of heat, 
which destroys the connection between the plate and the shell; it is now recurved 


CHELONIA IMBRICATA. 43 


from the borders towards the centre, and can then be easily removed. These 
plates vary in thickness and in transparency, and are consequently arranged in 
classes of different value. ‘Tortoise-shell is not considered of the best quality 
unless the animal has reached a certain size, about one hundred and sixty pounds; 
before that state, it is too thin. ‘The quantity obtained varies much in weight in 
different animals; fifteen pounds is the most obtained even from animals of the 
largest size; yet this substance is so valuable that a Chelonia imbricata of the 
same dimensions with a Green Turtle would sell for ten times as much. 


The lamina, when separated, are delicate and easily broken; yet, by certain 
management, they can be made to take on any desired form; this is done by 
immersing them for a time in hot water, and then placmg them in moulds of iron 
or wood; many portions may be joined together by cutting or scraping the edges 
thin and placing them in accurate contact, in which position they must be retained, 
and kept in boiling water till softened, then removed and suddenly cooled; and 
thus can a continuous surface of great extent be produced, even sufficient to cover 
pillars and doors, as practised by the ancients, with whom it was held in great 
estimation. For information as to the procedure of arranging this substance for 
different purposes, as well as for the various uses to which it is applied, we may 
refer to those works of art that treat on the subject. 


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49 


Orver I]. SAURIA.—Brogniart. 


CHARACTERS. 


. The body is elongated, rounded, and covered with plates, or scales, or granu- 
lations, and is destitute of a carapace or shell. 


. There is always a sternum, and distinct, movable ribs. 

. The tail is elongated, and the vent commonly transverse. 

. The extremities are usually four in number. 

. The eyelids are visible, and so is generally the membrane of the tympanum. 
. The mouth is large, and without movable lips. 


. The rami of the lower jaw are anchylosed at the chin, and are armed with 
teeth. 


. The heart is composed of two auricles and one ventricle, sometimes subdivided 
by imperfect partitions. 


. There are two lungs, of nearly equal development, and extending more or less 
into the abdominal cavity. 
Vor. I1.—7 


50 SAURIA. 


10. Their eggs have a cretaceous covering of greater or less firmness. 
11. The young animals undergo no metamorphosis. 


Remarks. Brogniart first established the order Sauria, and gave it accurate 
and well defined limits; before his time, Linneus arranged in the genus Lacerta, 
not only all Lizards, but Salamanders and Tritons also. This order at present 
includes nearly five hundred species, distributed in eight families. Of this great 
number only about fourteen different species have hitherto been found within the 
limits of the United States. 


51 


Fammy. CROCODILIDA. Cuwvier. 


CHARACTERS. 


. The head is large, and covered with a thick, closely adherent skin. 

. The nostrils are approximated, and open near the snout; they are furnished 
with movable valves, and communicate with the fauces by a long narrow 
canal. 


. The eyes are protected by three lids. 


. The external opening of the ear is furnished with two movable lips, one above, 
the other below, by which it can be closed. 


. The mouth is very large, opening even behind the cranium. 


. The tongue is fleshy, flat, closely adherent at its borders, and not at all pro- 
tractile. 


. The teeth are simple, conical, pointed, hollow at their bases, of unequal size, 
and placed in a single row. 


. The body is covered above with large, square plates, more or less carinated; 
those of the back are elevated in longitudinal ridges; the abdomen is protected 
by large, square, and smooth plates. 


52 CROCODILIDA. 


9. The tail is longer than the body, stout, compressed at the sides, covered with 
square plates, verticillated; those above are so carinated as to form a strong, 
deeply serrated crest, double at its base and single towards its tip. 


10. There are four extremities—the anterior with five fingers, the posterior with 
four toes, either palmated or semi-palmated. Both anterior and posterior are 
armed each with three nails. 


The family Crocodilida, thus characterized, embraces three genera, viz: Alli- 
gator, Crocodilus, and Gavialis; of these the first only is found in the United 
States. 


and 


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ALLIGATOR —Cwvier. 


~Genus-Atuicaror.—Cuaracters. The fourth tooth of the lower jaw on each 
side largest, and received in a socket of the upper; posterior extremities rounded, 
without crests or dentations; toes never more than semi-palmated. 


ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPIENSIS. Dauwdin. 
Plate VI. 


Cuaractrers.. Nostrils separated from each other by a bony partition; fore- 
head divided by a short, prominent, longitudinal carina; four large tubercles on 
the neck, arranged in rows on each side of the vertebral line. 


Synonymes. Alligator, Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. ii. p. 63, pl. Ixiii. 
Alligator, Bartram, Travels in Florida, &c., p. 126. 
Crocodile de la Louisiane, Lacoudrenitre, Journ. de Phys., tom. xx. p. 333. 
Crocodilus Mississippiensis, Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. ii. p. 412. 
Crocodilus lucius, Cuvier, Ann. Mus., tom. x. p. 28, pl. 1. fig. 8, pl. il. fig. 4. 
Alligator lucius, Merrem, Versuch eines Syst. der Amphib., p. 34. 
Crocodilus Cuvieri, Leach, Zool. Miscel., vol. i. p. 102. 
Alligator lucius, /itzinger, Neue Class. der Rept., p. 46. 
Alligator Mississippiensis, Gray, Synops. Rept., p. 62. 
Crocodilus lucius, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 146. 
Alligator lucius, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. iil. p. 75. 
Alligator, Vulgo. 


54 ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPIENSIS. 


- 


Description. The head is elongated, sub-oval, rounded in front, truncated 
behind, with its sides nearly parallel, only approaching each other about the 
eighth or ninth superior tooth, and finally meet at “the snout, in a parabolic 
curve,” which makes it resemble the head of a pike, (Esox.) The superior 
surface of the snout is elevated for the nostrils, “and the forehead is sub- 
divided by a short, sharp carina into two lateral halves; this ridge is peculiar 
to the Alligator. The internal and superior border of the orbit is raised into a 
sharp, prominent ridge, divided anteriorly in two short branches, one of which 
follows the original direction, and the other is turned towards the lateral margin 
of the jaw; between these two branches begins a furrow, more or less deep, 
which is continued nearly one half the length of the muzzle. The occipital 
region is broad, smooth, quadrilateral, and slightly pomted at its two posterior 
angles. 


The opening of the nostrils are superior near the snout, and directed forwards 
and upwards; and from the earliest moment, as was observed by Cuvier, are 
separated from each other by a bony plate, which happens in no other. of the 
Crocodile family. The eyes are large and prominent, the pupil elliptical, black, 
and the iris pale lemon colour, reticulated with dark brown. There are three 
eyelids, of which the superior is covered with two large plates and several 
smaller ones. 


The external meatus of the ear is placed on the same line with the orbit, 
directly behind and near it, and is furnished with two movable lips, one above, 
the other below, by which it can be closed when the animal is under water and 
opened when he is on land. 

The jaws are slightly curved or festooned at their borders, and armed with 
forty teeth above and below; of which the fourth inferior pair is largest of all, 
and received in sockets of the upper jaw when the mouth is closed. 


The neck is contracted and covered above with plates, smooth or tuberculated, 


ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPIENSIS. 55 


“four of which are remarkable, each with a strong carina or tubercle, oval at the 
base and compressed laterally above. These four tubercles are so placed on 
each side the mesial line, as to make two crests or ridges, with a broad gutter 
between them. Behind these plates are two others of similar form, but shghtly 
elevated; and on the outer side of these latter again, is a small carinated tubercle 
over each shoulder. The throat is covered with small and smooth plates. 


The body is elongated, rounded above, full at the flanks and flat below. 
Superiorly*it is protected by quadrilateral, strongly tuberculo-carinated plates, 
disposed in longitudinal and transverse series, forming ridges along the back. Of 
“these longitudinal ridges there are eight, the four internal extending the whole 
length of the body; the two external on each side are shorter, and the outer is 
shortest of all. Below these tubercles the’ flanks are covered with smaller 
plates, smooth, rhomboidal or oval, and arranged in nine or ten longitudinal 


rows. 


The thorax and abdomen are protected by broad, smooth, quadrilateral plates, 
large on the belly, less extensive between the anterior extremities, and very small 
between the posterior. These plates are arranged in longitudinal and transverse 
series; ten of the former and about thirty of the latter. 


The tail is large, long, compressed and thick below, and surmounted above 
with a double, strongly serrated crest on its anterior, and by a single crest on its 
posterior half. The vent is a longitudinal fissure, surrounded by many small, 
smooth plates. 


The anterior extremities are large, strong, and covered above by broad, 
smooth, rhomboidal or quadrilateral plates; and below by plates still smaller, 
though of similar form. 


ae ~ 
4 


There are five fingers, the second and third, and the third and fourth, slightly 
palmate; the three internal only are furnished with nails. The posterior extre- 


56 ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPIENSIS, 


mities are nearly twice the size of the anterior; they are rounded and covered in 
the same manner, but with larger plates. The tarsus is flattened and sustains 
four toes, the three external semi-palmate, and the three internal armed with 
nails. 


Cotour. The whole superior surface of the Alligator is dusky in the old 
animal, but in the young it is banded with dirty yellowish-white, most remarkable 
on the tail. The throat is yellowish-white; the plates of the abdomen are straw 
colour on their posterior half and dusky on their anterior, lightest in the young 
animal. The tail is coloured below like the belly, but still more dusky. 


Divensions. Length of head, 14 inches; length of body, 3 feet 1 inch; length 
of tail, 5 feet; total length, 9 feet 5 inches. The Alligator, however, frequently 
reaches dimensions much greater; I have seen one in Carolina 13) feet long. 


Bartram says in Florida they exceed the length of 23 feet, a size almost 
incredible. 


Hazits. Alligators abound in the low, stagnant ponds and deep morasses of 
the southern states, where hundreds of them can be seen at a time, either on the 
flat marshy banks of creeks and rivers, or on sandy or muddy shores left dry by 
the ebb of the tide. Here they remain motionless for hours, apparently asleep, 
and are often mistaken for logs of dead and decaying wood, as well as from their 
colour as from their perfect immobility; but when disturbed by the approach of 
enemies, they suddenly retreat to the water. At other times they may be 
observed floating on the surface of the water and only directed by its current; 


suddenly they skim along with the greatest velocity, either in search of food or of 
their mate. 


Such Alligators as dwell in ponds and streams out of the influence of tide- 
water, wander much further from the banks, and are not unfrequently seen a 
mile or more from water; this happens, however, most commonly when they 
migrate for some reason or other from one pool to another. 


ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPIENSIS. 57 


The Alligator in his native state is exceedingly voracious, and feeds on any 
animal substance that may fall in his way; though he seems mostly attracted by 
fish, and by other animals in motion, as minks, musk-rats, dogs, Wc., so as to 
render it almost impossible for them to cross even small streams without danger, 
at certain seasons of the year. These the Alligator seizes, drags under water, 
suffocates, and conveys to his lair, to be devoured at leisure. 


Having no prehensile organs but the mouth and strong teeth with which they 
seize their prey, drag and retain it under water, and breathing as they do, only 
atmospheric air, and with lungs, it follows that they might as soon be suffocated, 
when thus submerged, as their struggling prey. A curious arrangement of the 
soft palate prevents this; it hangs down to meet a broad cartilagimous plate that 
projects upwards from the lingual bone, so as to close completely the fauces, (in 
which the trachea is placed,) when the mouth is widely opened, and effectually 
prevents the introduction of water to the lungs, which would cause the death of 
the animal, 


Alligators are said to he in wait for their prey on the banks of creeks and rivers, 
and when it approaches, they sweep it into the water with their tail; and it is 
certain that the animal uses the tail in defence, striking with it the enemy, and 
turning the head to the same side, at the same instant, so as to represent nearly 
a circle; further than this it cannot be carried, in consequence of the extreme 
length of the transverse processes of the cervical vertebra. 


The Alligator takes the hook readily enough, when baited with flesh, but it 
requires strong tackle, such as is used in shark-fishing, to secure them, so great 
is the strength of an adult animal. When taken, they emit a disagreeable odour 
of musk, which proceeds from glands placed under the lower jaw. ‘These glands 
are sometimes preserved and used as a substitute for musk in perfumery. 


Besides the natural food of the animal, there is at all times found in the 
stomach of the Alligator, various extraneous substances, as stones, pieces of 
Von. I1.—8 


58 ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPIENSIS. 


wood, fragments of glass, broken bottles, &c., and these latter have their angles 
rounded, probably by trituration with other hard substances. Many persons 
suppose these foreign matters are destined to keep the stomach distended, during 
the long fast the animal undergoes in winter: others think they aid digestion, as 
particles of gravel operate in the gizzards of birds. It is not easy to say what 
may be the precise use of these foreign substances found in the stomach of the 
Alligator, but there can be little doubt of their subserviency to the function of 
digestion, when it is remembered that they are universally present in the adult, 
and most commonly also in the young animal.* 


The Alligator is much more timid than is commonly supposed, at least when 
on land; even Catesby says “it seldom attacks men and cattle, yet it is a great 
devourer of hogs.” There is, I believe, no well authenticated instance with us in 
Carolina, of their having preyed on man; yet Lacoudreniére (Journal de Physique) 
says it often happens in Louisiana, and that they greatly prefer the flesh of the 
black to the white!! Alligators will, however, defend themselves boldly when on 
land and at certain seasons of the year; nor can they be made to retreat from 
their position, as I have more than once observed, yet on these occasions I have 
never known them the aggressors. Bartram gives a different account; he says, 
they are very ferocious, and that he “was nearly devoured” by one; his description 
should however be received with some caution; and yet, perhaps, the encroach- 
ments of man upon their dwelling-places, since Bartram wrote, may have rendered 
them more timid and distrustful. 


The Alligator moves but slowly and with difficulty on land, in consequence of 
the shortness of the extremities compared with the great length of the body. He 
raises himself on his legs, advances for a short distance, dragging along the 
thick, heavy tail; now he falls upon the belly, apparently to rest for a time, before 
he proceeds on his journey. In water, however, he moves from place to place 
with great velocity, being propelled by his broad, strong, fin-like tail: besides, the 


* Vid. description of the stomach in the anatomical part of this work. 


ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPIENSIS. 59 


peculiar structure of the heart—the large lungs—the nostrils closed with valves, 
make him eminently aquatic, and enables him to remain for a long time beneath 
the surface without injury. ‘Some of the organs of sense even are constructed to 
recelve impressions under water as well as on land: thus the ear is covered with 
two movable lips, which are closed in one instance and separated in the other, as 
the impression is to be made by elastic or hquid fluids.” 


The female Alligator mounts small sandy hillocks, or she constructs small 
mounds, with mud and vegetable substances, in which she deposits her eggs; 
these are hatched by the heat of the sun in about thirty days. As soon as the 
young are disengaged from the shell, they seek the water “and shift for them- 
selves,” the parents taking no further care of them, though they may remain for 
some weeks in the same locality. Bosc says he once captured several young 
Alligators and preserved them for a time, and that there only food was insects, 
and to them they were not attracted unless they were in motion: I have never 
seen Alligators take any food whatever in confinement. 


In the spring of the year and early summer months, and during the time of 
incubation, and especially on cloudy days or in the evening, Alligators make a 
great noise; their croak is not unlike that of the bull-frog, but louder and less 
prolonged; Bartram compares it to distant thunder! 


On the approach of winter, these animals seek out holes in the earth, where 
they remain torpid until spring, or until the warmth of the weather excites them 
again to life and activity. In this state of hibernation, many are dug out of their 
retreats by the slaves, who esteem the tail as an article of food, and which, 
indeed, is tolerable. 


GrocraruicaL Disrrisution. The Alligator is first observed on the Atlantic 
border of the United States at the mouth of the Neus‘ river, in North Carolina; 
those that are occasionally seen farther north, must be considered as stragglers 
rather than permanent residents. From this point they abound near the mouths 


60 ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPIENSIS. 


of all the creeks and rivers that empty into the Atlantic ocean, or into the Gulf 
of Mexico, as far as New Orleans, ascending up the Mississippi as high as the 
entrance of Red river, six hundred miles. Cuvier, in his “Mémoire” on the 
Crocodiles, says, “Cette espece (Lucius) va assez loin au Nord; elle remonte 
le Mississippi jusque a la riviére rouge.” 


Dumeril and Bibron give the Alligator a still wider range; they say it appa- 
rently inhabits all parts of North America—“Qu’elle semble habiter dans toute 
son étendue,”—a striking proof of the inaccuracy of foreign herpetologists in 
arranging the geographical limits of our reptiles. In fact, the Alligator is never 
found north of lat. 35° on the Atlantic shore, and does not even reach the same 
parallel on the Mississippi, but stops at 33° 50", the entrance of Red river— 
and what is this to the whole extent of North America? It may safely be 
affirmed, that nine-tenths of the territory of the United States east of the Rocky 
mountains, is uninhabited by this reptile. 


GeneraL Remarks. Catesby first described this animal, and gave a tolerable 
figure of it, under the name Alligator, in his “History of Carolina,” &c. Linnzus 
next reviewed it in the twelfth edition of the “Systema Nature,” but he seems to 
have regarded it but as a variety of the Nilotic crocodile, in which opinion he 
was followed by many naturalists of that time. In fact, the elder herpetologists 
“are in some degree excusable for their ignorance of the different species of 
Crocodiles, for the specific characters applied to them were variable, and often 
little accordant with nature.” 


It is to Cuvier that we owe nearly all that is worth knowing on this subject; it 
was he who first observed the differences of the Crocodiles of the old and new 
world. In a “Mémoire” read before the Institute of France, and afterwards 
published in Weidmann (Archiv. Zoot., b. ii. p. 161, Brunswick, 1801), he recog- 
nised the peculiarly shaped head of the Alligator—*flat, and resembling that of the 
pike’”—and seems to have regarded it as distinct from the South American animal; 


ALLIGATOR MISSISSIPPIENSIS. 61 


yet he observes that further observations of several individuals will be necessary 
to determine if it be really a distinct’ species. 


Daudin next published an account of our animal in his Natural History of 
Reptiles, (1802,) under the name Crocodilus Mississippiensis, the description 
being taken from a “specimen killed on the borders of the Mississippi,” and 
furnished him by Michaux the botanist. Cuvier having completed (1807) his most 
interesting observations on this family of animals, now described the Alligator as 
a new species, in the “Annales du Muséum,” under the name “Alligator lucius,” 
from the shape of the head resembling that of the common pike of Europe, 
(Esox lucius.) 


This specific name, although perfectly appropriate, so far as regards the form 
of the head, cannot be retained, as that of Mississippiensis, imposed by Daudin, 
has the undoubted right of priority. Dr. Leach, an excellent English naturalist, 
afterwards reproduced this animal in his Zoological Miscellany as a new species, 
and dedicated it to Cuvier (Crocodilus Cuvieri), which specific name is liable to 
the same objection as that imposed by Cuvier himself; it is subsequent to that 
given by Daudin. 


There exists some doubt as to the etymology of the term Alligator, by which 
the animal is now universally known; some have supposed it derived from the 
word “Legateer” or “Allegater,” a name by which the young Crocodile is distin- 
guished in some parts of India. Cuvier says it is much more probable that it is 
a corruption of the Portuguese “Lagarto,” derived from the Latin “Lacerta,” as 
Hawkins writes it “Alagartos;” and Sloan, in his History of Jamaica, spells it 
“Allagator.” | 


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63 


Famity. I[IGUANIDA. Dumeril et Bibron. 


CHARACTERS. 


1. The body is covered above with horny plates or scales, which are without 
knobs or tubercles; most commonly, however, there is either a dorsal or 
caudal crest. ‘The abdomen is covered with small plates. 


2. The head is destitute of large plates. 
3. The eyes are furnished with two movable lids. 


4. The teeth are placed sometimes in a common socket or groove; at others, 
they are not set in the bone, but only united firmly to its free border. 


5. The tongue is thick, fleshy, flattened, and covered with papille; is destitute of 
a sheath at its root, and is only movable at its tip. 


6. The fingers and toes are free, distinct, of unequal length, and are all furnished 
with nails. 


The family Iguanida, according to Dumeril and Bibron, includes about forty- 
six genera, arranged in two sub-families or sections. 


I. Teeth mostly conical, and received in a cylindrical groove of the jaws. 


V. 2—8* 


64 IGUANIDA. 


II. Teeth solidly united to the most prominent part of the jaws, which offer no 
groove. 


Four genera only of this family are found within the limits of the United 
States, viz: Anolius, Tropidolepis, Crotaphytus and Phrynosoma. The three first 
include each one species, and the latter four. 


ANOLIUS .—Cuwvier. Dumeril et Bibron. 


Genus Anorius.—Cuaracters. Head elongated, flattened and covered above 
with polygonal plates of unequal size, maxillary teeth variable in number 
and form; the anterior simple, rounded, pointed and recurved; posterior com- 
pressed, and tridentate at their summit; palatine teeth very small, or wanting 
altogether. Tongue thick, slightly notched at its apex; throat furnished with a 
dewlap or fold of skin, distensible at will. Body elongated, sub-cylindrical, more 
or less flattened, covered above with small scales of variable form, carinated or 
smooth, imbricated in some, juxta-posed in others; abdomen covered with imbri- 
cated scales, smooth or carinated; extremities well developed; third and fourth 
finger of same length; fourth toe longest; skin of four external fingers and 
toes developed beneath to form an oval disk, covered with large imbricated scales 
on their inferior surface; this dilatation most remarkable under the three middle 
fingers and toes. Tail cylindrical and very long. 


Only one species of Anolius has hitherto been observed in the United States. 


Remarks. The most remarkable structure in the genus Anolius, is the great 
development of the anterior and inferior part of the ante-penultimate phalanges 
of the fingers and toes into an oblong oval disk, by means of which the animal 
can sustain himself, or even run with facility on perpendicular surfaces. Home 
supposes that a vacuum is produced in these disks, under the fingers and toes, at 
the will of the animal, and that he is thus kept in place by atmospheric pressure, 
like some insects, (Cymbex lutea.) 

Vor. I1—9 


66 ANOLIUS. 


The genus Anolius exhibits another curious arrangement in its loose skin under 
the throat, generally folded, but capable of great distention at will, when it forms 
a dewlap of brilliant colours. 


Most naturalists have supposed that this dilatation was produced by inflation, or 
the passage of air into the sac or fold, and hence has this been given generally as 
one of the generic characters. 


Mr. Bell, a celebrated herpetologist of London, was the first, I believe, who 
observed the real cause of this distention of the skin at times under the throat, 
and demonstrated that it was not by inflation or filling the fold of skin with air, 
as there is no communication with the dewlap and the trachea, fauces or mouth, 
by which air could enter. The fold of skin is drawn down by a peculiar arrange- 
ment of the lingual bone, and a singular elastic cartilage fixed to it and attached 
to the skin. These parts are moved by delicate muscles, so that when the carti- 
lage is drawn down, the skin of course is distended, and follows it in “the same 
way that the silk is stretched over the whalebone of an umbrella.”* 


In fact, the skin, when distended in life by the animal, does not resemble the 
inflated vocal sacs of the toad or frog, which are round, but looks like a fold of 
the skin, pinched and drawn down, the two portions being in contact, like a true 
dewlap.T 


* Zool. Jour., vol. ii. p. 11. ¢ Vide anatomical portion of this work. 


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Anolhius 


Carolmensis. 


PS David, Lith, Lheit? 


67 


ANOLIUS CAROLINENSIS.—Cuwvier. 


\ 


as Plate VIII. 


Cuaracters. Head flattened, and greatly elongated, covered with minute 
scales; nostrils distant from the end of the snout; tail very long, verticillate; a 
distensible fold of skin, or dewlap, under the throat; fingers and toes slender, 
elongated, distinct. 


Synonymes. Lacerta viridis Carolinensis, Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. ii. tab. Ixy. 
Anolis bullaris, Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. iv. p. 69. 
Green Carolina Lizard, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii. p. 243. 
Anolius Carolinensis, Cuvier, Reg. An., tom. ii. p. 50. 
* Anolius bullaris, Hardan, Jour. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. vi. p. 16. 
Dactyloa bullaris, Wagler, Natiirlich. Syst. der Amphib., p. 148. 
Green Lizard, or Chameleon, Vulgo. e 


Descrirtion. The head is much elongated, flattened, and canaliculated between 
the orbits, full and rounded at the temples; the snout is rather obtuse; the nostrils 
are placed at some distance behind its extremity, and open upwards and outwards. 
The head is mostly covered with small, nearly equal sized, polygonal plates, with 
a few larger ones, eight or nine in number, disposed in a semicircle on the 
superior orbital margins, which are somewhat prominent; those on the occipital 
region are smallest of all, and surround a single plate of larger size. The mouth 
is large; the upper jaw is armed with fifty or sixty teeth, and the lower with forty- 
five or fifty; in both jaws the six or eight posterior teeth are the larger; the labial 
plates are small, quadrilateral, and sixteen or eighteen in number. 


68 ANOLIUS CAROLINENSIS. 


The eyes are rather small, but very brilliant, with a dusky pupil and an iris of 
burnished gold; the external meatus of the ear is contracted and small—the 
tympanum is visible, though deeply placed. Under the throat is a dewlap, or fold 
of skin, that can be distended at will. 


The body is elongated, but hardly cylindrical, the abdomen being broader and 
the spine narrower, giving it at times a triquetrous form, and is covered with scales 
so extremely minute, as to give the whole surface a granulated appearance. 
When examined with a glass, they appear nearly of equal size, hexagonal, or 
rounded, not carinated, except over the thighs, but rather more elevated in their 
centre. There is neither cervical, dorsal or caudal crest. The abdomen is 
covered with ovalo-hexagonal plates, slightly imbricated and carinated. The 
extremities are covered above with small, imbricated and carinated scales, and 
with plates similar to those on the back below. 


The anterior extremities are rounded; the skin on the under surface of the ante- 
penultimate phalanges of the four external fingers is spread out into an oval disk, 
with transverse scales, by means of which the animal can attach itself to smooth 
surfaces; the fingers are five in number, each provided with a small, short, very 
delicate and curved nail. ‘The posterior extremities are longer, and terminate in 
five toes, provided with the same number of nails; the ante-penultimate phalanges 
are arranged in the same manner as in the fingers. The tail is cylindrical, very 
long, and covered with large rhomboidal and verticillated scales. 


Cotour. The whole superior surface of the head, body, tail and extremities is 
of a beautiful golden-green; the abdomen, greenish-white; the sac under the throat 
becomes vermilion when inflated; when flaccid it is white, with occasional lines 
and spots of red. ‘The inferior surface of the extremities is white, clouded with 
green; the superior surface of the fingers and toes is brown, and the inferior 
surface of the same colour. We observe frequently a black band on the temple, 
and a row of small black dots along the superior surface of the tail, as repre- 


ANOLIUS CAROLINENSIS. 69 


sented in the accompanying plate; but these all disappear when the animal assumes 
its greenest tint. 


In giving this as the ordinary colour of the Anolius Carolinensis, it must be 
remembered that the colour varies greatly at different times, according to the 
season of the year, the weather, health of the animal, activity of the circulation, 
&c. In cold weather, and in confinement, it is frequently dark brown, or brown 
with a vertebral line of white, seeming an entirely different animal; in warm 
weather it assumes, in the space of a few moments, every variety of shade, from 
dark brown to the most beautiful golden-green. ‘These variations in the colour 
are so great, and take place so suddenly, that it is often supposed to depend on 
the will of the animal, or the colour of the substance on which it is placed. 


\ 
‘ 


a Dimensions. Length from the tip of the snout to the vent, 2? inches; length 
of tail beyond the vent, 43 inches; total length, 6% inches. 


GrocraruicaAL Distrisution. The Anolius Carolinensis is first seen about 
latitude 35° in the Atlantic States, whence its range extends to the Gulf of 
Mexico, and westward to the Mississippi; and, according to Dr. Sibley, as far as 
Natchitoches, on Red river. 


Too much attention cannot be paid to the geographical distribution of animals, 
as no species can be considered as thoroughly known until we are acquainted 
with all its localities, as well as its habits. 


It is from inattention to the geographical distribution of animals, that some of 
the best zoologists of our day have been led into error, and described animals as 
existing in countries where they are never seen. Thus Dumeril and Bibron, 
having received specimens of the Anolius Carolinensis from Georgia, and also 
from Milbert, then a resident at New York, say they have reason to believe it 
is found in a great part of the United States—and so it would be did it exist in 
the intermediate country between New York and Savannah; but in truth its 


70 ANOLIUS CAROLINENSIS. 


limits are among the most circumscribed of all our animals; it is not found farther 
north than lat. 34°, and consequently not within six hundred miles of New York; 
and its southern limit being the Gulf of Mexico, it follows then that four-fifths of 
the United States is not inhabited by this animal. Milbert received his specimens 
from the south, and afterwards sent them to Paris. 


Again: they say they have received a Cyclurus from the same source, and 
suppose it to be common in our country, where, perhaps, never were seen half a 
dozen living animals of that species, and they were all brought from Cuba, and 
other West India islands, which is its native country. 


Hasirs. The Anolius Carolinensis is a bold and daring animal, haunting out- 
houses and garden fences; and in new settlements it even enters the houses, 
walking over the tables and other articles of furniture in search of flies. It is 
very active, climbing trees with great rapidity, and leaping with ease from branch 
to branch or from tree to tree, securing itself even on the leaves, by means of the 
oval disks of the fingers and toes, which enable it also to walk easily on glass, 
and on the sides and ceilings of rooms. It feeds on insects, and destroys great 
numbers, seizing them suddenly, and devouring them, unrestrained even by the 
presence of man. 


In general they hibernate later than other animals of the same class; their 
favourite retreats bemg gardens and old buildings; they often retire to green- 
houses or conservatories, where they may be frequently seen active, even in 
winter, but never of that rich yellow-green as in the summer season. In the 
spring season they are extremely quarrelsome; two males seldom meet without a 
furious battle, which frequently results in the loss of part of the tail, or some 
other injury, to one or both of the combatants.* Before the contest, the animal 


* Le Pére Nicholson, in describing the soqguet, an animal supposed for a long time to be 
identical with ours, has very well described the habits of the Carolina Anolius. Essai sur 
’Hist. Nat. de Saint Domingue: Paris, 1776, p. 348. 


ANOLIUS CAROLINENSIS. 71 


usually remains stationary for a moment, elevates and depresses its head several 
times, distends his dewlap, which now becomes of a bright vermilion, and then 
suddenly springs at his enemy. After the first heats of spring have passed, they 
become less quarrelsome, and many are seen quietly living together in the same 

neighbourhood; they retain at all times the habit of distending the dewlap, even 
when quietly basking in the sun; and at those times the colouring of the animal 
has the liquid brilliancy of the emerald. 


Generat Remarks. Catesby was the first who described this animal, under 
the name of Green Lizard of Carolina,* but he also gives another plate of a 
similar Lizard of Jamaica.t Linneus describes the Jamaica species (Lacerta 
viridis Jamaicensis) as the Lacerta bullaris, and without further reference. 
Daudin and succeeding writers give an additional reference to the Green Lizard 
of Carolina; which is the more remarkable, as Catesby himself seemed aware of 
the difference between these animals, for he gives them different figures, and a 
different geographical distribution. Cuvier was the first since Catesby to recog- 
nise the Carolina Anolius as a distinct species, “from the very long, flat muzzle 
and the black band at the temples.” It has already been remarked that this 
band disappears when the animal assumes its greenest tint; we must therefore 
depend on the “long flattened muzzle,” and the distance of the nostrils from the 
snout, chiefly, in determining this species. 


Dumeril and Bibron suppose this animal to be common in Cuba; and Cocteau 
has given a figure and description of the Anolius Carolinensis in Ramon de 
Lasagra’s “Histoire de l’Isle de Cuba.” 


Now, if the colours of that plate were taken from a living specimen, and are 
true to nature, the animal certainly is not identical with ours. In Cocteau’s 
ficure, the shoulders and neck are represented as indigo-blue, a colour never seen 
in any part of the Anolius Carolinensis with us. Again, the sack or dewlap is 


* Catesby, Carolina, &c., vol. ii. tab. 65. + Catesby, loc. cit., vol. ii. tab. 66. 


72 ANOLIUS CAROLINENSIS. 


coloured cinereous, with a few interrupted white lines, while, in our animal, the 
same part is always either white, with a few spots and lines of red, or of a 
beautiful vermilion. 


Besides, in Cocteau’s description,* “the scales are carinated on the back and 
sides,” and there is a cervical crest, “carina cervicali humili,”? while our animal 


is entirely ecarinate, Xc. 


* Loe. cit., p. 127. + Reptilia, tab. xi. 


Tropidolepis undulatus 


) 


TROPIDOLEPIS.—Cuwvier. Dumeril ct Bibron. 

Genus Tropripoteris.—Cuaracters. Head short, sub-triangular, rounded in 
front, and covered with small plates; no palate teeth; tongue obtuse in front, 
slightly notched, covered with minute papille; lips furnished with a double series 
of oblong plates; nostrils open in a single plate, surrounded by smaller scales; 
tympanum depressed in the meatus, which has its anterior border more or less 
dentated; neck below smooth, but with an oblique depression on each side; body 
short, depressed, and covered with large, carmated and imbricated scales above, 
and with smooth plates on the abdomen; tail very long, large, and depressed at its 
base, rounded towards its tip; neither dorsal nor caudal crest; there are femoral, 
but no anal pores. 

ee 


TROPIDOLEPIS UNDULATUS.—Bosc. 
Plate IX. 


Cuaracters. Head short, sub-triangular, rounded in front; body short, thick, 
depressed, covered with carinated and imbricated scales, and marked with trans- 
verse undulating black bands. 


Syvonymzs. Stellio undulatus, Latreille, Hist. Nat. Rept., tom. ii. p. 40, MSS. from Bose. 
Agama undulata, Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. iil. p. 384. 
Uromastix undulatus, Merrem, Versuch eines Syst. der Amphib., p. 57. 
Stellio undulatus, Bosc, Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxi. p. 527. 
Lacerta fasciata, et hyacinthina, Green, Journ. Acad. Nat. Scien. Philad., vol. i. p. 349. 


Vor. II.—10 


74 TROPIDOLEPIS UNDULATUS. 


Tropidolepis undulatus, Cuvier, Reg. An., tom. ii. p. 38. 

Tropidolepis undulatus, Gray, in Griff. An. King., vol. ix. p. 43. 

Agama undulata, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 140. 

Tropidolepis undulatus, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. iy. p. 298. 


Description. The head is short, sub-triangular, rounded in front, elevated above 
and covered with rough imbricated and polygonal scales. The snout is obtuse; 
the rostral plate pentagonal and elongated, with several small plates between it 
and the nasal and frontal; the nasal plates are single on each side, nearly semi- 
circular, and are surrounded by five or six small plates. The nostrils are lateral, 
but open upwards and backwards, and are very near the snout, on the inner 
margin of the superciliary ridge. ‘There are about ten frontal plates, the central 
longest; of the two vertical plates, the anterior is the larger, pentagonal and 
bordered with small plates; the occipital plate is broad, rounded behind, angular 
in front, and surrounded by six smaller scales, arranged in two rows. There are 
five superior orbital plates, most extensive in the transverse direction; these have 
an inner margin of small scales, and an outer border, consisting of three rows of 
small scales, forming the margin of the superciliary ridge: the eyelids themselves 
are covered with minute scales. The margin of the upper jaw is covered with 
six or seven narrow, oblong, quadrilateral plates, nearly all of the same size; 
above these are two or three rows of small scales. 


The eyes are small and black, and appear sunken, from the projection of the 
superciliary ridge. The external meatus of the ear is large and oval, most 
extensive in the vertical direction; and in front appears serrated, from the pro- 
jection of the points of three or four scales. The neck is contracted and short, 
and has on each side in front of the anterior extremities a deep oblong depres- 
sion, covered with a fold of skin. 


The body is elongated, though full, large, rounded, and covered above with 
small hexagonal, strongly carinated scales; each carina terminating posteriorly in 
a sharp, elongated point. These carina form sharp ridges, which are directed 


TROPIDOLEPIS UNDULATUS. 75, 


longitudinally on the back, but obliquely on the flanks. The abdomen is broad, 
flattened, rounded at the sides, and covered with rhomboidal, reticulated, and 
imbricated scales, each scale terminating posteriorly in a pomt. The scales on 
the throat and anterior part of the chest are frequently notched behind, instead of 
ending in a point; those under the chin are very small. The tail is long, cylin- 
drical, and covered with sharp, elongated or imbricated scales, pentagonal or 
triangular, with their apices rounded, and are verticillated or arranged in circular 
rows, which renders the tail rough to the touch. The vent is semicircular, 
transverse, and bordered before and behind with minute scales. 


The anterior extremities are rather large and rounded, covered above with 
scales similar to those on the back, but smaller and smooth below. There are 
five delicate fingers, furnished each with a very small, short and curved nail. 
The posterior extremities are nearly twice the size of the anterior, and are 
covered with similar scales, with a range of sixteen or eighteen pores on the 
inferior surface of the thigh; behind these are numerous small scales that make a 
sort of ridge. There are five toes, long, slender, and scaled to the root of the 
nails, which are short and curved. 


Corour. The head is dark brown above, with a black bar extending from 
orbit to orbit; behind this is a dusky white bar of similar extent. The neck 
above is dark grey; behind the tympanum are two or three scales, with their 
margins of bright red. The lower jaw is silver-grey; the throat black, with a 
broad green blotch ascending, to be visible on the side of the neck, sometimes 
interrupted in the mesial line. 

The body is pepper-and-salt grey above, with five or six transverse black 
bands, not of equal breadth in all parts, and having their posterior borders 
marked with white blotches, which frequently become continuous, so that their 
posterior margins appear tipped with a white edge. The abdomen is silver- 
grey, marked with small, oblong, black spots; these are so disposed near the 
centre as to form an interrupted line, which is most distinct between the thighs. 


16 TROPIDOLEPIS UNDULATUS, 


On each side of the abdomen is a long green blotch, surrounded with black, 
which runs to the anterior extremities; and the lghter central portion of the 
abdomen, meeting the lighter line extended from the inferior surface of the 
anterior extremities, forms a cross on the thorax. 


The tail is dusky, with several transverse bands of black. 


The anterior extremities are dusky above, with transverse bands of black even 
to the toes, with a few white spots on their anterior and posterior surface; the 
under surface is silver-grey. The posterior extremities are coloured like the 

i aie both above and below. 


Divenstons. Length of head, 7 lines; length of body, 3 inches 3 lines; length 
of tail, 4 inches; total length, 7 inches 8 lines. 


Hasirs. The Tropidolepis undulatus inhabits chiefly the pine forests of our 
country, and is often found under the bark of decaying trees; it chooses also 
commonly old fences as its basking place. It is exceedingly rapid in its motions, 
climbing with great facility to the tops of trees, and is hence not taken alive 
without great difficulty. Its food is insects, especially such as are found under 
decayed wood. 


GrocrapuicaL Distrisution. The Tropidolepis undulatus has a very extended 
geographical range. It is abundant in the forests of New Jersey, and is found 
even as far north as latitude 43°, whence it reaches the Gulf of Mexico along the 
Atlantic States; and is also common west of the Alleghany mountains, as I have 
seen individuals of this species from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas; and 
Say observed it at Engineer Cantonment, on the Missouri river. 


GeneraL Remarxs. There can be no doubt that this animal was first 
observed in Carolina by Bosc, who, in his notes furnished to Latreille and 


TROPIDOLEPIS UNDULATUS. aT 


Daudin, describes it under the name Stellio undulatus, as Latreille first published 
it, though Daudin afterwards arranged it as an Agama. Cuvier placed it in the 
genus Tropidolepis, in which he has been followed by Dumeril and Bibron, who 
have recently so well described the animal as to leave nothing to be desired. 


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Crotaphytus collaris 


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CROTAPHYTUS.—Ablbrook. 
x 


_ 
. 


Genus Crotapuytus.—Cuaracters. Head large, sub-triangular, rounded at 
the snout and greatly developed at the temporal region; covered above with 
small polygonal plates; largest on the vertex maxillary, palatine and sphenoidal 
teeth; the posterior maxillary compressed laterally, and tricuspid at their cutting 
margin. Body covered with small, polygonal, smooth plates; tail very long, 
covered with oblong-quadrate plates, verticillated, larger than those of the body, 
smooth on its anterior half and carinated on its posterior; femoral pores well 


developed. 


CROTAPHYTUS COLLARIS.—Say. 
Plate X. 


Cuaracters. Head short, thick, sub-triangular, rounded at the snout, arched 
at the forehead, broad at the temples; covered above with small polygonal plates, 
largest on the vertex and occiput; eyelids serrated at their margins. Body 
elongated, depressed, dusky, with a deep tinge of green or purple, spotted with 
rays of white colour; two transverse black bars between the shoulders, with an 
intermediate one of white; tail very long, covered with verticillated plates, 
smooth on the anterior, carinated on the posterior half; femoral pores well 


developed. 


Synonymes. Agama collaris, Say, Long’s Exped. to Rock. Mount., vol. ii. p. 252. 
Agama collaris, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 142. 


80 CROTAPHYTUS COLLARIS. 


Description. The head is short, thick, and sub-triangular, with the snout 
rounded; the forehead arched above, sloping suddenly downwards, and with the 
temporal regions swollen or greatly developed; the forehead, vertex, and occiput 
are covered with numerous small polygonal plates, smooth, and all nearly of the 
same size, becoming only a little more minute as they approach the nostrils and 
margin of the upper jaw. The superior face of the orbit is covered with many 
small polygonal plates, disposed without order in general, but on the outer margin 
is a row of scales distinct, though not of larger size. 


The nostrils are placed on a line with the superciliary ridge; they are lateral, 
large, open in a single plate, which is somewhat elevated, so as to make them 
appear slightly tubular, and are surrounded by several small plates; the openings 
are rather large and are directed upwards, outwards and backwards. 


The upper jaw is covered with twenty-four small, quadrilateral, labial plates, 
above which are two or three rows of smaller plates, though of nearly similar 
form. The rostral is quadrilateral, greatly elongated transversely, so as to 
appear like two ordinary labial plates united in one. The mouth is rather small, 
and the tongue broad, slightly notched at its tip, and covered with fungiform 
papille. The upper jaw is armed with eighteen teeth; six incisors, two longer 
canine; the seven posterior being compressed laterally and tricuspid at their 
cutting margins. The lower jaw has fourteen teeth; and the palate is provided 
with minute teeth, and there are several rather large, distinct and conical in the 
sphenoidal bone. 


The orbit before, below and behind is bordered with ten or twelve small quadri- 
lateral plates, those below are rather largest, and slightly concave; between these 
plates and the lids are several rows of minute plates or granulations. Of the 
eyelids the superior is largest, and both are covered with minute granulations, and 
have at their tarsal margins a row of quadrilateral plates, larger in the lower, and 
having a second row of smaller plates attached to their outer border, which makes 
a remarkably serrated margin. The eyes are rather large, but appear less so 


CROTAPHYTUS COLLARIS. SI 


because of the projection of the superciliary border; the pupil is black, round, 
and the iris si! ery. 


The external opening of the ear is long, narrow, quadrilateral, most extensive 
vertically, and surrounded with small scales, of which four or five in front are 
conical, and project a little backwards, so as to give a slightly notched 
appearance to the middle of the anterior border. ‘The membrane of the 
tympanum is visible, though deeply placed, and is extended nearly from without 
inwards. The chin and throat are covered with small, nearly equal sized plates, 
smooth, and not imbricated. The neck is contracted, with a transverse fold 
ascending on each side, in front of the shoulders. The body is large, elongated, 
depressed, rounded at the flanks, and covered above with small, sub-hexagonal 
scales, either rounded or a little oblong, neither imbricated nor carinated, all 
nearly of the same size, and “obsoletely arranged in transverse lines.” The 
thorax and abdomen are protected by larger plates than the back, though still of 
small dimensions, smallest on the thorax; they are of quadrate form, or slightly 
sub-hexagonal, imbricated, and are distinctly arranged in transverse series. 


The anterior extremities are large, and covered above with small scales, 
similar to the back, and below with scales still smaller, while in front there are 
but few larger, variable in form, and imbricated. There are five distinct, well- 
developed fingers; the third and fourth of the same length, all much compressed 
laterally, scaled to the roots of the nails by a single transverse row beneath, and 
by two or three rows above. Each finger is furnished with a nail—small, short, 
curved, pointed, and much compressed. 


The posterior extremities are also large, and covered like the anterior above 
and below; though the plates are small, they vary much in form; they are smooth, 
rhomboidal, or sub-triangular, imbricated, and largest on the leg. The tarsus is 
covered with larger imbricated scales above, and sustains five long, laterally- 
compressed toes, covered like the fingers, and furnished with nails of similar 

Vor. I1.—11 


82 CROTAPHY TUS COLLARIS. 


form. There is a range of nineteen femoral pores under each thigh, well 
developed, and with a row of scales larger than common before them. 


The tail is more than twice the length of the body, thick, and flattened at 
its base, but soon tapers, becomes cylindrical and very small; it is covered with 
oblong-quadrate plates, larger than those on the body, verticillated, smooth on 
the anterior half, carinated on the posterior to the tip. The vent is transverse, 
rather semicircular, with a depression behind it, and a row of larger scales. 


Cotour. The head above is uniform dusky brown, tinged with a greenish or 
purplish hue. The neck beneath is pale; “at the sides it is fulvous, more or less 
varied with bright vermilion-red” in life, with two deep black bands extending 
across the shoulders between the anterior extremities, and a broad yellowish- 
white band between them. 'The body above is slate-colour, tinged with green 
or purple, and with five or six dusky, broad bands, tinged with purple, alternating 
with narrow fulvous bars, each with a series of yellow spots, which are also 
scattered in the darker parts of the back. The bands on the body disappear 
altogether in the very old animal, and the whole superior surface is then of a 
uniform slate-colour, tinged with purple, and studded with light coloured spots. 
The sides are greenish-yellow; the abdomen is silver-white in the preserved 
specimen, and clouded at the throat. The extremities and tail are marked with 
alternate bars of dusky and fulvous. 


Divenstons. Length of head, 1 inch 2 lines; breadth of head over temporal 
muscles, 1 inch 2 lines; length of body to vent, 3 inches; of thigh, 1 inch; of leg, 
1 inch 1 line; of tarsus and toes, 1 inch 8 lines; length of tail, 8 inches; total 
length, 12 inches. 


Hasrrs. I am unacquainted with the habits of this reptile. 


GeocrapuicaL Disrrizution. It inhabits the south-western portions of the 
United States, as Arkansas and Louisiana, near the confines of Texas. 


CROTAPHYTUS COLLARIS. 83 


Generat Remarks. This animal was first described by Say, in Long’s 
Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, who calls it Agama collaris. Not being 
able to refer this animal to any one established genera, I have proposed a new 
genus, Crotaphytus. 


Never having seen the living animal, the colours of the accompanying plate 
were taken from a specimen preserved in alcohol, and consequently cannot be 
fully relied on. 


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PHRYNOSOMA —Weegmann. 


Genus Purynosoma.—Cnaracters. Head short, rounded in front, bordered at 
the sides and behind with spmes more or less elevated; covered above with small, 
polygonal, nearly equal sized plates. Nostrils lateral, near the snout, and 
opening in the middle of the nasal plate; margin of external meatus of the ear 
simple; tympanum visible but depressed. ‘Throat with a transverse fold; body 
short, oval, much depressed, with a dentated margin at the flank, and covered 
above with trihedral tubercles, arising from among small imbricated scales; 
neither spinal or caudal crest; extremities short, dentated at their borders; fingers 
or toes five to each extremity; a range of femoral pores, more or less developed; 
tail hardly the length of body, and flattened at its base. 


Remarks. ‘To Wiegmann, a celebrated herpetologist of Berlin, is due the merit 
of having first pointed out the proper place for these animals nm a systematic 
classification. He removed them from the Agamee, and established the genus 
Phrynosoma for their reception; and this he subdivided very naturally into 
two sections, according to the mode of opening of the nostrils, the scales of the 
belly, whether smooth or not, &c. &c. For further information on this subject, 
consult the Isis, vol. xxi., or his Herpetologia Americana, a work I have read 
with great interest. 


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87 


PHRYNOSOMA CORNUTA.—Harlan. 


Plate XI. 


Cuaracters. Head short, thick, triangular, rounded in front, with a range 
of long spines on each side of the lower jaw; nostrils open within the internal 
margin of the superciliary ridge; body short, flattened, rounded, covered with 
trihedral tubercles, intermixed with small imbricated scales; abdomen flattened, 
and covered with rhomboidal, carimated scales; femoral pores, but not well 
developed. 


Synonymes. Lacerta tapayaxin, Barton, Med. and Phys. Journ., vol. iii. part ii. p. 68. 
Agama cornuta, Harlan, Journ. Acad. Nat. Scien. Philad., vol. iv. p. 299, pl. xx. 
Tapaya orbicularis, Cuvier, Reg. An., tom. ii. p. 37. 

Phrynosoma cornuta, Gray, in Griff. An. King,, vol. ix. p. 45. 

Phrynosoma Harlani, Wiegmann, Herp. Mex., pars i. p. 54. 

Phrynosoma Harlani, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. iv. p. 314. 
Agama cornuta, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 141. 

Horned Toad, Vulgo. 


Description. ‘The head has nearly the form of an equilateral triangle, rounded 
at the snout, and covered on the vertex with small polygonal scales, all nearly of 
the same size; the occipital plate is small and sub-round; the remaining parts of 
the occipital space is covered with small scales and small conical pointed 
tubercles, sometimes grooved. The rostral plate is small, pentagonal, and 
rounded above. The nasal plates are single on each side, circular, narrow, 
surrounded by five or six small polygonal scales, with the opening for the nares 
nearly in the middle. 


88 PHRYNOSOMA CORNUTA. 


The nostrils are very near the snout, latero-superior, and open almost vertically 
within the internal margin of the superciliary ridge. The eyes are small and 
sunken, with the pupil black and the iris dark grey. The margin of the upper 
jaw is covered with about twelve small, quadrilateral, labial plates, all nearly of 
the same size; the three or four posterior being rather smaller. The upper 
margin of the lower jaw is covered with about as many labial plates, and of 
nearly the same size and form; its inferior margin presents a series of six horny 
points on each side, placed horizontally, and increasing in size from the anterior 
to the posterior, and give a serrated appearance to the inferior and lateral margin 
of the lower jaw. Above these points, but below the labial range of plates, are 
two series of small scales. 


At the posterior border of the occiput is a transverse row of prominent spines, 
nine in number, extending from near the front of one external meatus of the ear 
to the other; two of these spines are very long, and occupy the posterior border 
of the occipital region; three are placed externally to these on each side, and 
decrease gradually in size from above downwards; the ninth spine, which is 
smallest of all, is situated between the two central or longest: these spines are 
nearly conical, but are flattened at their bases. The external meatus of the ear 
is large and oval, most extensive in the vertical direction; this opening is 
granulated posteriorly, and is a little prominent in front, where there are three or 
four tubercles, with projecting points. 


The neck is very short, which gives the head the appearance of being attached 
to the shoulders, like the toad. The chin is covered below with small rhomboidal 
scales; besides these there are two rows of larger and pointed scales running to 
the neck, within and parallel to the rows of spines that margin the lower jaw, but 
separated from them by three or four series of small scales. The skin of the 
neck is slightly folded transversely, but on the sides are larger folds that cover 
depressions; the most remarkable is placed in front of the shoulder. The borders 
of these folds are frequently armed with short spines. 


PHRYNOSOMA CORNUTA. 89 


The body is short, flattened, ecarinate, rounded at the sides, and covered with 
trihedral pointed tubercles, intermingled with small, rhomboidal, carinated and 
imbricated scales. The vertebral line is covered with about four rows of small, 
nearly equal sized scales, and appears flattened by reason of the absence of the 
carinated scales and tubercles found in other parts. On each side the vertebral 
line, and irregularly disposed in rows of four or five each, are seen large pointed 
trihedral tubercles, surrounded by others of similar form, but smaller. The 
flanks are arched outward, and present, from the shoulder to the thigh, two series 
of spines, of which the upper is larger, leaving a groove between them covered 
with granulations; these spines give a serrated appearance to the flanks. The 
thorax is covered with large rhomboidal scales, strongly carinated; the scales of 
the abdomen are also rhomboidal and carinated, but less distinctly, and of smaller 


size. 


The tail is broad and flattened at its root, but soon becomes smaller and 
terminates in a point, and is covered above with large rhomboidal, imbricated 
and strongly carinated scales, with a few small spines about its basis; and below 
with smooth scales. The vent is transverse, and has small scales both before and 
behind. 


The anterior extremities are large, and protected in front and above by large 
rhomboidal, carinated scales, each carina terminating in a spine, and below they 
are covered with smooth and smaller scales; the fingers are five, distinct, slender, 
and furnished each with a small, short and curved nail. The posterior extremities 
are but little longer than the anterior, and are covered in a similar manner, with 
the exception of having a few large trihedral spines scattered about the superior 
and posterior part of the thigh and leg; there are five toes, distinct, long, slender, 
each armed with a short and curved nail. There are six or eight pores on the 
inferior surface of the thigh, but not well developed. 


Cotour. The head above is ash coloured, with a dark bar across the vertex; 
the forehead is dusky, and the margin of the upper jaw pepper-and-salt grey. 
Vor. IL.—12 


90 PHRYNOSOMA CORNUTA. 


The border between the spines, in which the superciliary ridges terminate 
posteriorly, is margined with black; from the inferior and anterior part of the 
orbit descends, perpendicularly, a narrow dusky bar; another bar of the same 
colour, but broader, runs from the inferior and posterior margin of the orbit 
downwards and backwards to the root of the two anterior and inferior spines of 
the range surrounding the occiput. ‘These two spines are dirty white, the inferior 
one margined below with dusky; the two central occipital spines are dark chestnut 
at their bases, and black at their apices. ‘The chin and throat are silver-white. 


The ground colour of the neck and body above is ash, with a line of yellowish- 
white along the vertebral column, reaching from the head nearly to the extremity 
of the tail; on each side of this line at the neck is an oblong dark blotch, which 
extends to the anterior extremities, larger before and smaller behind. The body 
above is marked with three transverse dark coloured blotches or bands, not 
however crossing the vertebral line; the anterior is only a dark oblong spot, in 
the centre of which is a long spine; the basis of this, as well as most of the 
spines, is surrounded by an irregular circular border of chestnut, with an 
occasional tinge of yellow; the spines themselves are a darker chestnut; the 
central and posterior bars are most extensive, but even they only reach the 
margin of the vertebral line. The thorax and abdomen are silver-white, with 
small dusky spots, sometimes round, sometimes oval, each including a portion of 
three or four scales. ‘The tail is coloured above like the back, and is completely 
banded towards the tip—below it is silver-grey. The anterior and posterior 
extremities are ash colour above, marked with transverse dusky bars, and silver- 
grey beneath. 


Drvenstons. Length of head to root of occipital spines, 7 lines; length of body, 
from head to vent, 2} inches; of tail, beyond the vent, 1} inches; of thigh, 9 lines; 
of leg, 9 lines; of tarsus and toes, 9 lines; total length, 4 inches 7 lines. 


Hasirs. The Phrynosoma cornuta inhabits the prairies of the west; it moves, 
according to the accounts of those who have seen them in the wild state, with 


PHRYNOSOMA CORNUTA. 91 


great rapidity from place to place, either in search of its prey or to escape its 
enemies, but never climbs. In confinement, however, its movements are sluggish; 
it remains for hours in the same posture, without making any attempt to escape. 
The individual from which the accompanying plate was taken, was brought by 
Mr. Gregg from the neighbourhood of Santa Fe, near the confines of the United 
States, and remained in possession of Dr. 'T. M‘Euen, of Philadelphia, for several 
months. It was perfectly quiet and gentle, never attempting to bite, or even to 
resist, when taken in the hand, and far from having the activity attributed to it in 
its native condition; it was not easy to make it shift its position, even by touching 
it; nor would it seek shelter from rain, or from the intense heat of the sun, though 
the temperature in the shade was above 90°. Dr. M‘Euen further informed me, 
that it would feed on a small species of red ant, taking them slowly and at long 
intervals; but he could never entice it to eat other insects, though many different 
kinds were offered it. 


Grocrapuica Distrisution. The Phrynosoma cornuta is found in the western 
country, from the Missouri to Texas, and is very abundant about the sources of 
Red river. 


GenerAL Remarks. A good deal of difficulty has hitherto existed as to the 
history of the Phrynosoma cornuta. The first animal of this species ever seen 
by our naturalists was brought alive by Lewis and Clark, and given to Mr. 
Jefferson, who deposited it in the Museum of the Philosophical Society of 
Philadelphia, where it is still kept in perfect preservation; this I have more than 
once examined, through the kindness of my esteemed friend, John Vaughan, Esq., 
hbrarian to that institution. 


Dr. B. 8. Barton was, however, the first naturalist who published any notice of 


the Phrynosoma cornuta,* and proposed calling it Lacerta tapayaxin—a name 
that cannot be received, as it is applied to the orbicular lizard of Hernandez. 


* Med. and Phys. Journ., vol. iii. part ii. p. 68. 


92 PHRYNOSOMA CORNUTA. 


Harlan next described this animal as a new species of Agama, under the 
specific name cornuta, which must be retained. His description was taken after 
comparing three specimens in Peale’s Museum, also brought from Missouri, all of 
which I have ascertained, from frequent examination, to be perfectly similar: they 
all have carinated scales on the abdomen, and all have the nostrils opening within 
the superciliary ridge. 


Wiegmann did wrong in changing the specific name of cornuta first given to 
this animal by Dr. Harlan, for that of Harlani; especially as he was aware, as 
may be seen by his reference, that the animal had previously been described as 
the Agama cornuta. If it were meant for a compliment to our herpetologist, 
however well he may deserve it, it is badly timed, and is paid at the expense of 
science; it is taking away a name well applied and significant, and replacing it by 
another that cannot be continued, but must in the end give way to that first 
unposed, 


Dumeril and Bibron are equally wrong in adopting Wiegmann’s specific name, 
instead of that given by Harlan, which has the undoubted right of priority. 


Fhyno sorna orbiculare. 


S Duval, Lith! Philad2 


Sema x? 


N 


93 


PHRYNOSOMA ORBICULARE.—Hernandez. 


Plate XII. 


Cuaracters. Head short, triangular; snout rounded; lower jaw without spines; 
the three posterior labial plates large and elevated; nostrils open at the anterior 
extremity of the superciliary ridge; a pointed tubercle in front of the meatus of 
the ear; abdomen covered with smooth scales; femoral pores fifteen, very distinct. 


Synonymes. Lacerta orbicularis, Hernandez, Noy. Plant. An. Mex., p. 67. 
Agama orbicularis, Merrem, Versuch eines Syst. der Amphib., p. 53. 
Phrynosoma orbiculare, Wagler, Natiirlich. Syst. der Amphib., p. 146. 
Phrynosoma orbiculare, Wiegmann, Herp. Mex., pars i. p. 53, tab. viii. fig. i. 
Phrynosoma orbiculare, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. iv. p. 321. 


Description. The head is short, triangular, the snout rounded, but less so than 
in the last species, and covered in front and on the vertex with small polygonal 
plates, and a few small tubercles on the occipital space. The rostral plate is very 
small, sub-pentagonal; the nasal plates are single, circular, very narrow, and 
surrounded by five or six polygonal scales. There are about ten small, quadri- 
lateral, very narrow, superior labial plates, which do not extend as far as the angle 
of the mouth, where their place is supplied by small granulations; the inferior 
labial plates are similar to the superior in size and number, except the three or 
four posterior, which are larger, and behind them is placed a conical pointed 
tubercle at the anterior and inferior margin of the meatus of the ear. The 
inferior and lateral border of the lower jaw presents an horizontal range of eight 
large quadrilateral plates, instead of spines, as in the cornuta; these increase in 
size towards the angle of the mouth, and being slightly elevated in their centre, 
give a festooned appearance to the inferior and outer margin of the lower jaw; 


94 PHRYNOSOMA ORBICULARE. 


above these large plates, and below the labial plates, are two or three series of 
small scales. ‘The whole chin and throat are covered with nearly equal sized, 
smooth, rhomboidal scales. 


The nostrils are near the snout, and open at the anterior extremity of the 
superciliary ridge. ‘The eyes are small and sunken, with the pupil black and the 
iris dark grey. 


At the posterior border of the occiput is a row of spines, nine in number, 
extending from the front of one meatus of the ear to the other; the two longest of 
these spines are placed at the superior and posterior part of the occipital region, 
and have a very small one between them; three other spines are placed on the 
sides of the head, and decrease in size from above downwards: these spines are 
formed like those of the Agama cornuta. The external meatus is large, rather 
triangular, broader above, narrower below, with a small conical pointed tubercle 
at its anterior and inferior margin. The neck is short, and contracted behind the 
head. The chin is covered with small, equal sized, smooth, rhomboidal, imbricated 
scales; the throat with similar scales, but smaller, and offers a transverse fold, 
which ascends on each side of the neck, to cover an oblique depression in front of 
the anterior extremities. 


The body is short, flattened, ecarinate, arched outwards at the flanks, and 
covered with large, pointed, trihedral tubercles, interspersed among small rhom- 
boidal, carinated scales and smaller tubercles. The vertebral line is covered with 
three or four rows of small scales, and appears depressed, from the absence of the 
larger tubercles that are found in other parts. On each side of the vertebral line, 
and disposed in irregular rows, are scattered larger and pointed tubercles. The 
flanks are bordered with a single row of spines, extending from the anterior to the 
posterior extremity. The thorax and abdomen are covered with rhomboidal, | 
perfectly smooth scales. 


The tail is broad and flattened at its root, but suddenly becomes contracted, 


PHRYNOSOMA ORBICULARE. 95 


and terminates in a point, and is covered like the abdomen, but has only a few 
spines at its basis and along its lateral margins. 


The anterior extremities are of moderate size, and covered above and in front 
with large, elongated, rhomboidal, pointed scales, and with smooth scales below; 
the fingers are five in number, slender, distinct, and each armed with a short 
curved nail. The posterior extremities are but slightly larger than the anterior, 
and are covered like them, both above and below, with the exception of a few 
large spines scattered about the upper face of the thigh and leg; there are five 
toes, long, slender, distinct, and each with a short curved nail. 


Cotour. The head is dusky above, with a dark band between the orbit and 
another along the posterior part of the occiput. The upper jaw is grey, the lower 
white. The superior or long spines of the occiput are chestnut at their basis, and 
black at the points; the others are dusky. The chin and throat is silver-white. 
The body, tail and extremities above are coloured precisely as in the Agama 
cornuta; below they are silver-white, with oblong or round spots on the thorax 
and abdomen. 


Dimensions. Length of head to root of spines, 7 lines; of body, from head to 
vent, 2: inches; of tail, beyond the vent, 17 inches; of thigh, 9 lines; of leg, 9 
lines; of tarsus and toes, 9 lines; total length, 4 inches 7 lines. 


Hasits. Iam not aware that the Phrynosoma orbiculare differs in its habits 
from the Phrynosoma. cornuta. 


GrocrapuicaL Distripution. This animal is found in Arkansas and Louisiana, 
and extends through Texas, Mexico, &c. to the Pacific ocean. 


Generat Remarks. There cannot be much doubt that this is the Lacerta 
orbicularis, or Tapayaxin, of Hernandez; for his plate, which is tolerably good, 
represents the scales on the thorax and abdomen as smooth. 


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Phrynosoma coronata. 


Stone by « aed 
by Auched PS puval, Lith, Fhlad 


13. 


97 


PHRYNOSOMA CORONATA.—Blainville. 


Plate XIII. 


Cuaracters. Head short, triangular; nostrils open at the anterior extremity 
of the superciliary ridge; occipital region surrounded with eleven spines; eight 
rows of large, rhomboidal, elongated and pointed scales under the chin, reaching 
to the throat, external series largest. Body covered with rhomboidal scales, and 
large trihedral tubercles; two rows of spines along the flanks, the superior larger; 
a row of spines on each side the tail, from the root to the extremity. 


Synonrmes. Phrynosoma coronata, Blainville, Nouy. Ann. du Mus. d’Hist. Nat., tom. 
ly. p. 284, pl. xxv. fig. l. abe. 
Agama orbicularis, 2udubon, Birds, &c., vol. iv. pl. ceelxviii. 
Phrynosoma coronata, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. iv. p. 318. 


Description. The head is short, thick, triangular, and covered on the forehead 
and vertex with small polygonal plates of unequal size, and with a few scales and 
elevated tubercles on the occipital region. The snout is short and rounded, with 
the rostral plate very small. The nostrils are near the snout, open at the anterior 
extremity of the superciliary ridge, and are directed upwards and a little out- 
wards. The nasal plates are single on each side, circular, exceedingly narrow, 
and surrounded by six polygonal scales. The superciliary ridge is prominent, 
projecting over the eye, and covered with five or six quadrilateral plates; poste- 
riorly it is elongated, and terminates in a pointed tubercle. The eyes are small 
and sunken, with the pupil black and the iris very dark grey. The superior labial 
plates are eight in number, quadrilateral, very small, and not extending to the 
angle of the mouth, where their place is supplied by small granulations; there are 

Vor. IL.—13 


98 PHRYNOSOMA CORONATA. 


twelve inferior labial plates, quadrilateral, and still smaller than the superior. 
The outer and inferior margin of the lower jaw presents an horizontal series of 
large tubercles, increasing in size from the chin towards the angle of the mouth; 
the posterior of these is a little removed from the row, and is much larger, sharply 
pointed, and placed directly under the angle of the mouth; the other tubercles are 
not elongated and spinous posteriorly, as in the Phrynosoma cornuta, but give 
only a festooned appearance to the lower jaw. Between these tubercles and the 
inferior labial plates are three or four rows of small scales. 


The chin is covered below, on the mesial line, with one or two rows of small 
rhomboidal scales; on each side of these are placed four rows of larger scales, 
greatly elongated, and pointed outwardly and posteriorly, reaching to the throat, 
and increasing in size from within outwards, the external largest. Beyond these, 
and within the series of large tubercles that border the lower jaw, are again three 
or four rows of small scales. 


The whole posterior border of the head, from one angle of the mouth to the 
other, is surrounded by a row of long pointed spines, of conical shape, flattened 
at their bases, and disposed as in the Phrynosoma cornuta, but longer, and more 
numerous—in general eleven, but I have seen thirteen, the inferior very small. 
The external meatus of the ear is large, oval, and vertical. The neck is short, 
contracted behind the head, and protected above by small scales and pointed 
tubercles. The throat is covered with smooth rhomboidal scales, pointed poste- 
riorly; a transverse fold of the skin ascends on the side of the throat, and covers 


a depression in front of the anterior extremities, where the border of the fold is 
furnished with spines. 


The body is short, flattened, rounded, and arched outwards at the flanks; above 
it is protected by small, irregular scales, intermingled with large trihedral pointed 
tubercles. These pointed tubercles are surrounded at their bases by others of the 
same form, but smaller, and are irregularly disposed in four rows on each side of 
the mesial line, as in the Phrynosoma cornuta, from which, however, it differs 


PHRYNOSOMA CORONATA. 99 


entirely in wanting the three or four rows of small scales on the vertebral line, 
in place of which it has large scales and spiny tubercles. The flanks are furnished 
with a double row of spines; the upper is much the larger, and makes a serrated 
margin from the anterior to the posterior extremities. ‘The scales on the thorax 
and abdomen are large, rhomboidal and smooth, terminating posteriorly in a point. 


The tail is large, broad, and flattened at the root, but soon becomes smaller, 
is depressed in its whole length, and covered above with scales and pointed 
tubercles, as on the back; and below, with large rhomboidal scales, elongated in 
points posteriorly. On each lateral margin of the tail is a very remarkable range 
of large trihedral flattened spines, which gives to the tail a strong and regularly 
serrated border, unlike any other of this genus that I have observed. 


The anterior extremities are well developed, and protected in front by large, 
elongated, rhomboidal scales, carinated and pointed, even to the roots of the nails; 
their under surface is covered with small, smooth, rhomboidal scales; there are 
five fingers, distinct and slender, each with a short and curved nail. The 
posterior extremities are but little larger than the anterior, and are covered in the 
same way, but have strong spines along the superior and posterior part of the 
thigh. The toes are five in number, large, distinct, and furnished each with a 
short and curved nail. On the under surface of the thigh is a range of sixteen or 
eighteen pores. 


Cotour. ‘The head above is light brown, with a few dusky blotches; the upper 
jaw is grey. The three inferior spines that surround the head are light, and the 
two central spines are dark chestnut. The ground colour of the neck and body 
above is pepper-and-salt grey, with a lighter vertebral line from the occiput to near 
the extremity of the tail, but frequently interrupted by transverse dusky bars; nor 
is it perfect in other parts, as it contains several spines, which are all dark; on 
each side of this line at the neck is an oblong dark chestnut blotch, reaching to 
the shoulders, broad before and narrow behind. Behind these are four bands, with 
regular margins, which traverse completely the vertebral line, but are there less 


100 PHRYNOSOMA CORONATA. 


evident. The throat and abdomen are yellowish-white, marked with large dusky 
blotches, frequently confluent. The tail is coloured like the back above, but is 
more completely banded, especially towards the tip; its inferior surface is silver- 
grey, with a few indistinct dusky bars, corresponding with those of the upper 
surface. The anterior extremities are light grey above, with dusky bars and 
bands, and silver-white below. The posterior extremities are coloured like the 
anterior, both above and below. 


Dimensions. Length of head, 10 lines; of body, from head to vent, 3 inches 2 
lines; of tail, 1 inch 11 lines; of thigh, 11 lines; of leg, 9 lines; of tarsus and toes, 
11 lines; total length, 5 inches 11 lines. 


Hasirs. The Phrynosoma coronata is similar in its habit, as I am informed 
by Mr. Nuttall, to the Phrynosoma cornuta. He says its food is invariably 
insects, and that he has kept them for months in confinement; that they would 
conceal themselves about his person or about his apartment, but make their 
appearance at certain times for their food, which they took readily from the hand. 
When in their wild state they move with great rapidity among the bushes; but 
when they find they cannot escape by their swiftness, they remain perfectly quiet, 
and suffer themselves to be made prisoners without resistance. 


GrocrapuicaL Distrisution. The Phrynosoma coronata inhabits the country 
south of the Oregon river. 


GeneraAL Remarks. This animal was first described by Blainville, from a 
specimen found in California by Botta; his description is very good, but the 
figure accompanying it is faulty in many respects, especially in having the 
superciliary ridge represented with several prominent spines, and in wanting the 
peculiar serrated margin of the tail. Audubon next gave a good figure of it in ~ 
his great work on Ornithology, under the name Agama orbicularis, from a 
specimen furnished him by Nuttall. 


‘ a 
ae it . 
"aM ee 


Phrynosoma Dou olassi. 


14. 


PS Duval, Lith Pad 


101 


PHRYNOSOMA DOUGLASSII.—Bell. 


Plate XIV. 


Cuaracters. Head short, triangular, pointed and covered with tubercles, and 
not spines, on the posterior part, nostrils open at the anterior extremity of the 
superciliary ridge; body elongated, rounded, flattened, covered above with scales 
and slightly elevated and pointed tubercles, below with smooth scales; femoral 


pores, eighteen on each thigh. 


Synonymes. Agama Douglassii, Bel/, Linn. Trans., vol. xvi. p. 105, tab. x. pl. 105. 
Phrynosoma Douglassii, Wagler, Natiirlich. Syst. der Amphib., p. 146. 
Phrynosoma Douglassii, Wiegmann, Herp. Mex., pars i. p. 54. 

Agama Douglassii, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 141. 


Description. The head is short, triangular, flattened above, with its frontal, 
vertical, as well as occipital regions covered with closely imbricated polygonal 
scales; two slightly elevated tubercles only are seen on the latter region. The 
rostral plate is very small and triangular; the nasal plates are single on each side, 
very thin, and surrounded by five or six small scales. The nostrils are lateral, 
situated at the anterior extremity of the superciliary ridge, and are directed 
upwards and a little outwards. The superciliary ridge projects horizontally over 
the eye, more so than in any other Phrynosoma, and is covered with six large 
superior orbital plates, and terminates posteriorly in a small tubercle, very slightly 
pointed. The eye is small, sunken and black; the eyelids are equally movable, 
and covered with minute scales. There are ten superior labial plates, quadri- 
lateral, and all nearly of the same size; the inferior labial plates are seven in 
number, quadrilateral, and larger than in any of the genus. Behind these labial 


102 PHRYNOSOMA DOUGLASSII. 


plates, and on the same plane, are four tubercles, slightly flattened and pointed, 
the posterior largest. The inferior and external border of the lower jaw presents 
a series of tubercles, those in front smaller and smooth, swelling only a little in 
the centre, so as to give a festooned appearance; while those under the angle of 
the mouth are larger, and slightly elevated into a pointed tubercle. Between this 
series of tubercles and the labial plates, are interposed four or five rows of small 
scales. The chin is covered with small, smooth, rhomboidal scales, of equal size. 


There are nine small tubercles, which surround the posterior and superior part 
of the head, extending from the point of one meatus of the ear to the other. 
These tubercles are disposed as in the Phrynosoma cornuta, yet are so slightly 
developed as not to deserve the name of spines, for none of them exceed two lines 
in length, and the central tubercle is so small as hardly to be distinguished; thus 
the posterior part of the head loses that spiny appearance so remarkable in the 
Phrynosoma cornuta and Phrynosoma coronata. The entrance to the external 
meatus of the ear is sub-triangular, large above, smaller below. 


The neck is short, contracted at the back of the head, and covered above with 
small scales, and small, slightly elevated pointed trihedral tubercles. The scales 
of the throat are smooth and very small; the skin presents a transverse fold, 
which terminates on the side of the neck, over a deep depression in front of the 


anterior extremities, and here the margins of the fold are furnished with small 
pointed spines. 


The body is short, flattened above, rounded or arched outwards at the flanks, 
and is protected by small scales, interspersed with trihedral pointed tubercles, less 
elevated than in the three other species, and arranged in four irregular rows on 
each side of the vertebral line, and surrounded at their bases by smaller tubercles 
of similar form. The vertebral line differs here also from the Phrynosoma 
cornuta and Phrynosoma orbiculare in having several tubercles interposed in the 
five or six rows of scales that cover it. The flanks are furnished with only a 


PHRYNOSOMA DOUGLASSII. 103 


single row of spines, that give the serrated margin. The thorax and abdomen 
are covered with smooth rhomboidal scales. 


The tail is broad, thick and flat at its root, but soon becomes small, and 
terminates in a point; above it is covered with scales and small tubercles, the 
points of which are slightly elevated; similar points are scattered along the lateral 
margin of the tail, but by no means form that beautiful serrated edge seen in the 
Phrynosoma coronata. 


The abdomen is covered with large, smooth, rhomboidal scales, elongated 
posteriorly. 'The vent is transverse, with small scales both before and behind. 


The anterior extremities are large, covered above with rhomboidal carinated 
scales, and with a row of points along the front of the fore-arm; below, the scales 
are smooth and small; there are five fingers, distinct, and each furnished with a 
short, delicate, curved nail. The posterior extremities are but slightly larger, 
and are covered like the anterior, with the exception of a few spines scattered 
about the thighs and legs. There are eighteen femoral pores, well developed. 


Cotour. The head is brown above, as well as the tubercles; the chin is silver- 
white, with a few dusky circular spots. The superior surface of the neck and 
trunk is light grey, with dusky spots and bands, and with a broad vertebral band 
of yellowish-white; on each side of this vertebral line at the neck is an oblong 
dark chestnut blotch, reaching to the shoulders; the throat is silver-white. The 
trunk is marked with dark blotches, placed transversely, but none of them unite 
at the vertebral line. The thorax and abdomen are silver-white, with minute 
dusky spots. ‘The tail is coloured like the back, but is more completely banded 
towards the tip; the inferior surface is silver-grey. The anterior extremities, as 
well as the posterior, are grey above and silver-white below. 


Dimensions. Length of head, 8 lines; of body, from head to vent, 2 inches 8 


104 PHRYNOSOMA DOUGLASSII. 


lines; of tail, beyond the vent, 14 inches; of thigh, 7 lines; of leg, 7 lines; of tarsus 
and toes, 7 lines; total length, 4 inches 10 lines. 


Hasirs. Mr. Bell* says, on the authority of Mr. David Douglas, who observed 
it in its wild state, that, “like most others of its tribe, it is very nimble during the 
summer months, and it is then difficult to capture it; but in April, when it first 
makes its appearance, or in October, before it retires to its winter habitation, 
being at both seasons weakly, it is easily taken. At such seasons the traveller 
is constantly annoyed by them during the night, seeking shelter from the cold 
under his blanket, and is frequently under the necessity of removing these little 
intruders on his rest. It takes up its abode in the holes made by a species of 
Lepus, Arctomys, (Arctomys Richardsonii,) which are alternately occupied by 
them and several species of Coluber, which resort there for the purpose of 
preying on these Agame, (Phrynosome,) and on the marmots.” 


He further states, on the same authority, its food to be coleopterous insects 
and vegetable substances, as the Purschia, Artemisia, &c.; but Mr. Nuttall, an 
accurate naturalist, informs me that he has frequently observed these animals, 
during a residence of many months in the country about the Oregon river, and 
that their only food is insects. 


Grocraruicat Distrisution. The Phrynosoma Douglassii is abundant in the 
sandy plains south of the river Oregon, and chooses for its residence the banks 
of streams that are covered with the Purschia tridentata, Artemisia, Salvia, &c. 


GenerAL Remarks. Mr. T. Bell gave the first description of this animal in 
the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, and accompanied it with a 
tolerable figure, in which the short knobs about the head, instead of long spines, 
as in the other Phrynosome, are well represented. The individual from which 


* Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond., vol. xvi. p. 106. 


PHRYNOSOMA DOUGLASSII. 105 


Mr. Bell took his description and figure was brought from the Oregon or 
Columbia river by Mr. David Douglas, whose name he has given to the species. 


Dumeril and Bibron* have greatly erred in supposing this to be the young of 
the Phrynosoma orbicularis, which they probably inferred from the size of Bell’s 
figure. ‘That it is an adult animal, and perfectly distinct from all others of the 
genus, I have not the least doubt, as I have seen a specimen, the one from which 
the accompanying plate was taken, brought alive to Philadelphia from the banks 
of the Oregon, that equalled in size any Phrynosoma cornuta or orbicularis that I 
have ever seen, and yet having no spines about the head. 


* Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. iv. p. 314. 


Vor. I.—14 


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107 


Famiry. LACERTINIDA. Dumeril et Bibron. 


CHARACTERS. 


i. The head is a quadrangular pyramid, the apex in front, and covered above with 
polygonal, symmetrical, horny plates. 


2. The tympanum is distinct, and though sometimes depressed, is often level with 
the skin. The eyes have commonly three movable lids. 


3. The mouth is extensive, with the labial plates large. The tongue is free, fleshy, 
flattened, thin, more or less extensible, with its base sometimes lodged in a 
sheath, and its apex always notched or bifid; above it is covered with scaly- 
like papilla, which may be either rounded or angular. 


4. The maxillary teeth vary in form and in length, and are implanted on the 
internal border of a common groove, hollowed on the most prominent portion 
of the maxillary bones. The palatine teeth are variable, and in some wanting 
altogether. 


5. The body is round, greatly elongated, without a crest, and is protected by 
scales of variable size. The neck is without a dewlap or sac, though com- 
monly marked with several transverse folds. ‘The abdomen is covered with 
square or rounded plates, always larger than those on the back. 


108 LACERTINIDA. 


6. The tail is conical and very long, in some specimens being three or four times 
the length of the body, and covered with verticillated scales. 
7. The extremities are well developed, and are always four in number; the 
anterior have five fingers, the posterior five toes, all armed with nails. 


Tee ‘ hie é 


Ameiva-sex-lineata, 


O17 SAO OF Le OF CCF PS Davat hith flee? 


109 


AMEIVA .—Cwvier. 


Genus Amerva.—Cuaracters. Head sub-pyramidal, and covered with plates 
above; there are palatine and maxillary teeth—of the latter, the anterior are 
simple, the posterior tricuspid; membrane of the tympanum visible, but depressed 
below the margin of the meatus; tongue bifid, and covered with rhomboidal, 
squamiform papille; throat with a double fold; body above covered with minute 
scales; abdomen with smooth quadrilateral plates; the extremities are granulated 
above, with large scales below; there are femoral pores, and each extremity has 
four or five distinct fingers or toes, all armed with nails. 


AMEIVA SEX-LINEATA.—Linnzus. 


Plate XV. 


Cuaracters. Body elongated, dark brown above, marked with six yellow, 
longitudinal lines; abdomen bluish silver-white; tail cylindrical, very long, and 
covered with verticillated scales, carinated above, smooth below. 


Synonyrmzs. Lacerta sex-lineata, Linnzus, Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 364; exclus. syn. Catesby. 


Lacerta sex-lineata, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. Lin., tom. iii. p. 1074. 

Le Lézard a six raies, Bosc, Nouy. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xvii. p. 527. 
Le Lézard a six raies, Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. iii. p. 183. 
Six-lined Lizard, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii. part i. p. 240. | 
Lacerta sex-lineata, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 144. 

Cnemidophorus sex-lineatus, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat, des Rept., tom. v. p. 131. 
Striped Lizard, Vulgo. 


110 AMEIVA SEX-LINEATA. 


Description. The head is rather short, compressed at the sides, and rounded 
at the snout. The vertical plate is large and pentagonal, broad before, narrow 
and slightly curved behind; there are two large, irregularly rhomboidal, superior 
orbital plates, which supply the place of bony orbits; in front of these is a smaller 
plate, reaching to the frontal: on the outer margin of these latter are two series 
of small scales, beyond which is a row of seven narrow, elongated plates, that 
form the external margin of the orbit; the frontal plates are regularly pentagonal, 
broadest externally; the centro-frontal broad transversely, rounded before, and 
acute-angled behind; the nasal are quadrilateral, rather elongated, meeting in the 
mesial line above; the opening for the nostril is in its most inferior part, near the 
rostral plate, which is triangular, with its basis below and apex above and pro- 
longed. There are five occipital plates, pentagonal, and nearly all of the same 
size; the two anterior have between them a small triangular plate reaching to the 
vertical, the three posterior are placed in a transverse row, and are surrounded by 
small plates, of which there are several series behind. 'There are three inferior 
orbital plates, placed nearly in a row—the central is quadrilateral, elongated and 
narrow: the two others are very small. There is a single loral plate, pentagonal 
and large, ascending to the plane of the forehead. The upper jaw is covered 
at its inferior margin with a row of small, square, labial plates; the anterior only 
is trigonal and smallest. There are two series of plates to the lower jaw, the 
inferior largest. ‘The eyes are rather small, with a dusky pupil and a golden iris; 
the inner margins of the eyelids are bordered with a very narrow band of bright 
yellow; the membrane of the tympanum is apparent, and of a palish white colour; 
the entrance to it is round, and of large size. 


The body is elongated, and covered on the back and sides with minute scales; 
the scales of the abdomen are large and arranged in rows, of which those nearest 
the middle are largest. ~ The tail is very long, perfectly cylindrical, and covered 
with verticillated scales, carinated above and smooth below. 'The vent is trans- 
verse, and has three large scales, placed in a triangle in front, and with smaller 
scales behind. 


AMEIVA SEX-LINEATA. 111 


The anterior extremities are well developed, rounded, covered above at the 
shoulder with a double row of large scales, and with a single row still larger at 
the fore-arm; their inferior surface is granulated. There are five fingers, distinct, 
scaled to the root of the nails, which are five in number, short, small, delicate, 
and curved. 


The posterior extremities are twice the size of the anterior; the thigh above is 
covered with granulations, and below with a row of large scales; the leg is covered 
like the thigh, but there are two rows of still larger scales; the tarsus is granu- 
lated on its inferior surface, and has two rows of scales on its superior. There 
are five distinct, delicate toes, the fourth very long, each armed with short, small, 
curved nails; there is a range of femoral pores under the thigh. 


Cotour. The head is dusky brown; the upper jaw bluish-white, the lower 
nearly of a silver-white colour. Along the back extends, from the occiput to the 
tail, a purple or brownish band, on each side of which are three yellow or golden 
longitudinal lines; of these, the superior is the palest and shortest; it begins at 
the occiput and terminates at the tail; the other lines are much longer and 
brighter, the upper one beginning above the orbit and extending to the middle of 
the tail; the lower line begins below the eye, and runs above the tympanum, along 
the flanks to the anterior part of the thigh; a shorter and more indistinct line 
extends from the angle of the mouth, below the tympanum, to the shoulder; the 
spaces between these longitudinal bands are jet black. © The throat is silver-white, 
and the abdomen of a beautiful shining bluish-white colour. 


The upper surface of the tail is nearly similar in colour to the back, but 
appears much rougher from the verticillated scales; its inferior surface is whitish. 
There are two longitudinal lines on each side of the tail; the superior one is 
continuous with the central yellow longitudinal line of the back, and terminates 
about the middle of the tail; the inferior line is paler, it begins back of the thigh, 
runs nearly to the extremity of the tail, and seems to divide the upper or darker 
portion from the inferior or whiter part. 


112 AMEIVA SEX-LINEATA. 


The anterior, as well as the posterior extremities, are brownish above and 
bluish-white below; and along the posterior part of the thigh runs a whitish line, 
continuous with the inferior longitudinal line of the tail. 


Dimensions. Length of head, 7 lines; length of body, 2 inches 8 lines; length 
of tail, 6} inches: total length, 9$ inches. They are sometimes seen of greater 
dimensions. 


GeocraruicaL Distrisution. The Ameiva sex-lineata is numerous in the 
Carolinas, and is found throughout Georgia and the Floridas; how much further 
west it may exist cannot now be determined. 


Hasirs. This is a very lively, active animal, choosing dry and sandy places 
for its residence, and is frequently met with in the neighbourhood of plantations, 
or near fences and hedges; most usually it is seen on the ground in search of 
insects; its motions are remarkably quick, and it runs with great speed. The 
Ameiva sex-lineata is very timid; it feeds on insects, and generally seeks its food 
towards the close of the day, when they may be seen in cornfields far from their 
usual retreat; and not unfrequently I have met male and female in company. 


GeneraL Remarks. This animal was certainly first described by Linneus, 
under the name Lacerta sex-lineata, from a specimen sent him by Dr. Garden, of 
Charleston, who furnished him with numerous rare specimens of plants and 
animals from Carolina. He observes of it, “Femora postice, ordine papillari ut 
in Ameiva.” It is impossible at this time to understand what led him to consider 
this animal as the Lion Lizard of Catesby, (vol. ii. tab. 68,) with which it agrees 
neither in colour, habits, nor geographical distribution. ‘The Lion Lizard is of a 
“uniform grey colour, streaked with lines of a lighter grey;”—‘it frequents the 
rocks on the coasts of Cuba and Hispaniola, and is often the prey of sea-gulls.” 
It is remarkable that most naturalists since Linneus have copied this error, and 
given the same reference. 


AMEIVA SEX-LINEATA. 112 


The habits of the Ameiva sex-lineata closely approximate it to the true 
Lizards, of which we have none in the United States, and it may fairly be 
considered their representative here. 


Dumeril and Bibron have arranged this animal in the genus Cnemidophorus, 
(Wagler, Wiegmann,) restricted by themselves so as to differ from that of 
Ameiva, in the tongue being destitute of a sheath at its root into which it can 
be received. “Les Cnémidophores sont pour ainsi dire des Améiva’s a langue 


non engainante,” &c. 


Vou. I1.—15 


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115 


Famity. SCINCOIDEA. 


CHARACTERS. 


1. The head is covered above with large, thin, angular, corneous plates. 
2. The jaws are furnished with closely set teeth. 


3. The tongue is flat, free, and notched in front; not retractile in a sheath, and is 
covered entirely or in part by squamiform or filiform papille. 


4. The neck is of the same size and form as the thorax. 


5. The body is cylindrical, without spines, or crest, or lateral groove, and covered 
with smooth scales, variable in form and size, and disposed in a quincunx. 


6. The extremities and tail are covered like the body. 


This family includes a great number of genera, differing from each other in the 
form and disposition of the teeth; in the form and number of the cephalic plates; 
in the mode of opening of the nostrils, whether in one or more plates; in the 
presence or absence of eye-lids, whether they are single or not; in the presence 
or absence of extremities, as to their number, &c. &c. Of this extensive family, 
only three genera have as yet been observed in the United States—Plestiodon, 
Scincus and Lygosoma. 


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Plestiodon erythrocephalus. 


PS. Duvat, Lith Prec 


16 


117 


PLESTIODON .—Dumeril et Bibron. 


Genus Prestiopon.—Cuaracters. Nostrils open in the middle of the nasal 
plate; palate with a broad mesial fissure, enlarged at its anterior extremity; 
sphenoidal teeth numerous, short, straight, conical; all the scales smooth. 


PLESTIODON ERYTHROCEPHALUS.—Gilhams. 


Plate XVI. 
a 
Cuaracters. Head large, very broad behind, contracted before the eyes, and 
covered with plates; snout elongated and rounded; body olivaceous; head bright 
red; jaws and sphenoid bones armed with strong teeth. 


Syyonymes. Scincus erythrocephalus, Gz//iams, Journ. Acad. Nat. Scien. Philad., vol. i. 
p- 461, pl. xviii. 
Scincus erythrocephalus, Harlan, Journ. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. vi. p. 11. 
Scincus Americanus, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res. p. 138. 
Plestiodon laticeps, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. v. p. 705. 
Scorpion, Vulgo. 


Descrietion. The head is large, very broad behind, contracted in front of the 
eyes, but rounded at the snout. ‘The vertical plate is pentagonal, narrow behind, 
broader, and with an acute angle before. There are five superior orbital plates, 
irregularly quadrilateral and nearly of the same size, except the posterior, which is 
triangular and smaller, and may be regarded as a posterior-orbital as it descends 
a little behind the orbit. The occipital plates are five in number; the two anterior 
small and rhomboidal; the two posterior quadrilateral and large, with a long, 
narrow, pentagonal plate between them; behind these are two large, rhomboidal, 


118 PLESTIODON ERYTHROCEPHALUS. 


elongated scales. The frontal plates are pentagonal; the anterior frontal are 
smaller and rhomboidal; placed in between the frontal and anterior frontal is a 
large hexagonal, centro-frontal plate, reaching to a plate behind the nares. The 
rostral plate is triangular, smaller, and rounded in front and somewhat pointed 
above. The nasal plate is single, and rhomboidal in shape; between this and the 
orbital are three loral plates, the smallest in front, the largest behind. There are 
three anterior orbital plates, the middle one of which is the largest; and two 
posterior, the lower being the smaller. The lower margin of the orbit is com- 
pleted by the sixth and seventh labial plates, of which there are eight; the 
posterior very large. Between the seventh and eighth labial plates, and the 
posterior occipital, are three large temporal plates arranged in a triangle, of 
which the anterior is the smallest. 


The nostrils are large, latero-superior near the snout, and open upwards and 
outwards. The eye is small, the iris dark, the pupil darkest grey. Both eye-lids 
are covered with small scales. The entrance to the ear is small, elliptico-oval, 
and surrounded by small scales. The neck is not contracted, but appears so 
from the great development of the temporal region of the head. 


The body is elongated, rounded, and covered with smooth imbricated scales, 
arranged in longitudinal rows, both above and below, with two or three large 
scales in front of the vent. The tail is thick at the root, nearly the size of the 
body, but soon becomes small, cylindrical, and greatly elongated; it is covered 
with imbricated scales above, like the back; but below there is a central series 
resembling plates, with scales on either side to about one-third of the distance, 
when the scales disappear, and the plates are continued, as in some of the serpent 
tribe. 


The anterior extremities, as well as the posterior, are short, thick, and strong; 
the former terminating in five fingers, the latter in five toes, very delicate, and 
covered with scales to the root of the nails, all of which are armed with short, 
small, curved nails. 


ants 


\ 


PLESTIODON ERYTHROCEPHALUS. 119 


Cotour. The head above is bright red. ‘The body and tail above are olive- 
brown, a little darker on the sides. The throat and abdomen are yellowish-white. 


Divensions. Length of head, 1 inch 2 lines; greatest breadth of head, 1 inch; 
length of neck and body, 3 inches 2 lines; length of tail, 7 inches: total length, 11 
inches 3 lines. I have measured specimens 13 inches in length. 


Hasirs. The Plestiodon erythrocephalus chooses his residence in deep forests, 
and is commonly found about hollow trees, often at a height of thirty or forty 
feet from the ground; sometimes taking up his abode in the last year’s nest of 
the woodpecker, out of which he thrusts his bright red head in a threatening 
manner to those who would disturb his home. He never makes his habitation 
on or near the ground, and in fact seldom descends from his elevation unless in 
search of food or water. ‘Though shy and timid, he is very fierce when taken, 
and bites severely, owing to the great strength of his jaws, as well as the size 
and firmness of the teeth. The bite, however, though sharp and painful, is not, 
as is commonly supposed, venomous. 


GerocrapuicaL Distrisution. This animal is found from latitude 39° to the 
Gulf of Mexico in the Atlantic states, as well as in Mississippi and Louisiana. 


Generat Remarks. This animal was certainly first described by Gilliams. 
Lawson, in his History of Carolina, speaks of a Lizard called the Scorpion, but he 
does not mention the red head, which is a distinctive character of this; and 
Pennant, in the Supplement to his Arctic Zoology, has only quoted Lawson. 


Temminck and Schlegel,* after the examination of several specimens furnished 
them by Troost, consider this animal identical with the Scincus quinquelineatus, 
differmg in appearance only from age or sex—when a single glance at its com- 
pressed snout and broad head at the temporal region, its numerous and strong 


* Siebold, Faun. Japon. Reptilia, by Temminck and Schlegel, p. 99. 


120 PLESTIODON ERYTHROCEPHALUS. 


sphenoidal teeth, is enough to distinguish it from all others of our Skinks, without 
considering its geographical distribution. 


I have adopted, without hesitation, the genus Plestiodon, under which Dumeril 
and Bibron have arranged this animal, which is distinctly separated from that of 
Scincus by the great development of the head at the temporal region, its nume- 
rous, strong, conical, sphenoidal teeth, its nostril in a single plate, Xc. 


I cannot receive their specific name “laticeps” for this reptile, because I do 
not suppose it, with them, to be indentical with the Scincus laticeps of Schneider.* 
His description is too short and vague to distinguish his animal from those closely 
allied, and he never saw but one specimen in the Museum at Gétingen, in 
which the “body was of a uniform greyish-brown colour above, and the tail had 
two black spots near the extremity.” 


Another animal of the same species, he says, existed in his time in the collec- 
tion of Tilesius, at Leipsic, “the body of which was shaded with black spots, and 
had the tail annulated with black bands,” (in cauda vero anulatum apparet,) 
which is certainly very unlike our animal. Daudin even, who copies Schneider 
in his description of the Scincus laticeps, as there were no specimens of it in 
the Garden of Plants at Paris when he wrote his excellent work on reptiles, 
thought best to refer it to the animal represented in Seba,t and said by him to 
come from Africa. 


* Hist. Amphib., Fas. ii. p. 189. + Thes. tom. ii. tab. xii. fig. 6. 


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121 


SCINCUS QUINQUELINEATUS.—Linnzus. 


Plate XVII. 


Cuaracters. Head pale red, with six obscure white lines, the two internal 
confluent at the occiput; body above, olive-brown marked with five pale white 
longitudinal lines and a black lateral band; tail brown, tinged with blue. 


' Synonymes. Lacerta quinquelineata, Linnzus, Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 366. 
Lacerta quinquelineata, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. Lin., tom. i. pars iii. p. 1075. 
Lacerta quinquelineata, Latreil/e, Hist. Nat. Rept., tom. i. p. 248. 
Scincus quinquelineatus, Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. iv. p. 272. 
Scincus tristatus, Dawdin, MSS. from Bose, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. iv. p. 296. 
Scincus quinquelineatus, Schneider, Hist. Amphib., fas. ii. p. 201. 
Lacerta quinquelineata, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii. p. 241. 
Lacerta tristata, Bosc, Nouy. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xvii. p. 524, pl. xv. fig. 2. 
Scincus quinquelineatus, Merrem, Versuch eines Syst. der Amphib., p. 71. 
Euprepis quinquelineatus, Vagler, Natiirlich. Syst. der Amphib., p. 162. 
Scincus bicolor, Harlan, Journ. Acad. Nat. Scien. Philad., vol. iv. p. 286, pl. xviii. fig. 1. 
Scincus quinquelineatus, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 138. 


. Plestiodon quinquelineatum, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. v. p. 707. 


Description. The head is large, somewhat triangular, broad behind, though 
much less so than the Scincus erythrocephalus, with the snout elongated, narrow 
and rounded. The vertical plate is elongated, hexagonal, broad in front, 
narrow behind; there are five occipital plates, arranged in two rows; the anterior 
row has two plates, pentagonal, and broadest internally; the posterior row has 
three, the middle one of which is greatly elongated, pentagonal, larger and angled 
in front—the lateral are larger and nearly quadrilateral, with their anterior and 

Vor. IL.—16 


122 SCINCUS QUINQUELINEATUS. 


internal angles truncate, which gives them a slight pentagonal appearance; behind 
these are several large scales. There are four large irregularly quadrilateral 
superior orbital plates and three posterior orbital, the lower one larger, besides 
some small plates interposed between them and the eyelids, which are also 
covered with minute scales; there are four anterior orbital plates, one of which is 
large, and the superior makes a part of the superciliary ridge; the inferior wall of 
the orbit is sustained by the sixth and seventh superior labial plates. ‘The frontal 
are pentagonal, a little rounded, and broadest transversely; the centro-frontal is 
broad and hexagonal, and the anterior frontal are small, round and oblong. The 
rostral plate is triangular, with its apex upwards, and its basis rounded and 
directed downwards. The nasal plates are single on each side, small, and nearly 
circular in shape. There are three loral plates between the nasal and orbital—the 
two posterior are large and irregularly quadrilateral, the anterior is small and 
triangular. The margin of the upper jaw is covered with eight quadrilateral labial 
plates, the posterior of which is largest above, and behind these are temporal 
scales. ‘The two posterior labial plates are by no means as much developed as in 
the last animal. The nostrils are near the snout, lateral, but open upwards and 
outwards. ‘The eyes are small, the pupil dark and the iris grey. The opening of 
the external ear is large and oval, longest vertically. 


The body is elongated, cylindrical, and covered with sub-rhomboidal scales, so 
rounded and imbricated as to appear semicircular; these scales are arranged in 
longitudinal and oblique rows. The throat and abdomen are covered with 
rhomboidal scales, imbricated and rounded posteriorly like those of the back. 
The vent is transverse, with two large and two small scales in front, and small 
scales behind. 


The anterior extremities are short and covered with scales, similar to those on 
the back, and terminate in five distinct slender figures, covered with scales, and 
each furnished with a small, delicate, curved nail. The posterior extremities are 
large, and covered with scales like the anterior, and terminate in five long, slender 
toes, each with a short and curved nail. 


SCINCUS QUINQUELINEATUS. 123 


The tail is cylindrical and very long, and covered above with hexagonal scales, 
a little rounded posteriorly; below, it is covered with five rows of similar scales, 
and all of the same size, for one-third its length, when their place is supplied by a 
single row of larger plates, like the sub-caudal plates of the Boa. 


Cotour. The head is pale red above to the tip of the snout, and marked with 
six obscure white lines, two are above each eye and one below. These lines are 
only remarkable in the young animal; in the very old they become nearly obsolete. 


The body is olive-brown, and marked with five light coloured lines, more or less 
distinct; the vertebral line is very dingy white, frequently not evident; it is formed 
by the junction of the two superior lines of the head, extends to about one-third 
of the tail, and includes about one-third of two adjoming scales. On each side of 
this is another line, more distinct, continuous with that above the orbit, and 
extended to nearly the same distance; this line either takes up a whole scale, or it 
runs through its centre. Below the latter is still another line, continuous with that 
beneath the orbit, and is most distinct of all; it is interrupted at the external 
meatus, but again recommences behind it, and is extended above the shoulder, 
along the flanks, and terminates on the tail; this also includes one scale, or it 
passes longitudinally through its centre. “Between these two latter lines is a broad 
dark coloured lateral band. 


The throat and abdomen are white. 


The tail is coloured like the body above, but the lines are less distinct, and 
terminate about half its length, when the whole becomes dusky, with a tinge of 
blue. 


The anterior and posterior extremities are of the same colour as the back 
above, and are silver-white below, with a short white line on the posterior face of 
_ the thigh. 


~ 


124. SCINCUS QUINQUELINEATUS. 


Dimensions. Length of head of the animal here described, 73 lines; length of 
body from head to vent, 2 inches 3 lines; length of tail beyond the vent, 4 inches 
4 lines; length of thigh, 4 lines; of leg, 4 lines; of tarsus and toes, 6 lines: total 
length, 7 inches 2 lines. They reach a much greater size, and are frequently seen 
10, and even 11 inches long. 


Hasirs. The Scincus quinquelineatus lives on insects, and is found in our 
forests, choosing for its residence holes in the stumps of old and decaying trees, 
or such as have fallen to the earth. Although it climbs readily enough, it is 
almost always found on the ground, and J have never yet seen its abode at any 
great elevation. 


GrocrarnicaL Disrrisurion. The Scincus quinquelineatus is found in the 
Atlantic states, according to Dr. Pickering, from lat. 35° to the Gulf of Mexico; 
its western range cannot now be determined. I have only received it from 
Mississippi and Louisiana. 


Generat Remarks. Linneus gave the first account of this animal in the 
twelfth edition of the Systema Nature, from an individual sent him by Dr. 
Garden, of Charleston. The description is on the whole good, but was evidently 
taken from a specimen preserved in alcohol, which had changed the red colour of 
the head, as no mention is made of it. 


Latreille and Daudin, though they describe this animal under the specific name 
of “quinquelineatus,” again reproduce it under that of “tristatus;” the former 
arranging it among the Lizards, the latter more properly with the Skinks; both, 
however, describe it from specimens sent them by Bosc. That these specimens 
were preserved in alcohol is evident, as no notice is taken of the reddish-coloured 
head; and that they were adult animals is equally certain, as no mention is made 
of the lines about the head, or of the vertebral line, which frequently all become 
nearly obsolete in old age. The Scincus tristatus of Daudin cannot be meant for 
the Scincus fasciatus, for in that the six lines about the head always exist; nor 


SCINCUS QUINQUELINEATUS. 125 


for the Plestiodon erythrocephalus, as his description of the plates under the tail 
might lead one to suppose, for in the latter animal the head is always red, and the 
longitudinal lines along the body are always wanting. 


There can be little doubt that Garden himself, who had the best opportunity of 
examining, believed this animal to be different from the Blue-tailed Lizard of 
Catesby, or he would never have sent it to Linnzus as a new species. 


After all, the specific name of “quinquelineatus” is not so well chosen as it 
appears at first view, for others of the same family have the same number of lines, 
and disposed nearly in a similar manner. 


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127 


SCINCUS FASCIATUS.—Linnzus. 


Plate XVIII. 


Cuaracters. Head above bluish-black, marked with six straw-coloured lines, 
the two superior unite at the occiput; body above bluish-black, with five straw- 
coloured longitudinal lines; tail rich ultra-marine blue. 


Synonymes. Blue-tailed lizard, Catesby, Carol., vol. ii. p. 67, pl. Ixvii. 
Lacerta fasciata, Linnzwus, Syst. Nat., ed. x., vol. i. p. 209. 
Lacerta fasciata, Linnzus, Syst. Nat., ed. xii., p. 369. 
Blue-tailed lizard, Pennant, Arc. Zool., vol. ii. p. 334. 
Lacerta fasciata, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. Lin., vol. i. p. 1075. 
Scincus quinquelineatus, Schneider, Hist. Amph., fas. i. p. 202, variety. 
Scincus quinquelineatus, Dawdin, Hist. Nat. des. Rept., tom. iv. p. 272, variety i. p. 275. 
Lacerta fasciata, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. iii. p. 241. 
Euprepis fasciatus, Wagler, Natiirlich. Syst. der Amphib., p. 162. 
Plestiodon quinquelineatum, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. v. p. 707. 
Scincus quinquelineatus, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 138. 
Blue-tailed Lizard, Vulgo. 


“a Description. The head is short, broad behind, with the snout a little pointed 
and rounded. ‘The vertical plate is hexagonal, broader before, narrow behind. 
There are five occipital plates; the two anterior are quadrilateral and smaller; 
and of the three posterior, the central is elongated, narrow and rhomboidal, broad 
and angled in front, narrow and rounded behind; back of the occipital are large 
scales, and on the sides temporal plates. There are four large superior orbital 
plates, of which the two central are largest; there are three small posterior 
orbital, and four larger anterior orbital plates; while the inferior wall of the orbit 


128 SCINCUS FASCIATUS. 


is sustained by the sixth and seventh superior labial plates. The frontal are 
irregularly quadrilateral, with their internal angles elongated; the centro-frontal is 
hexagonal, broadest transversely; and the anterior frontal are sub-quadrilateral 
and rounded in front. The rostral plate is large, pentagonal, hollowed below and 
angled above. The nasal are rounded and single on each side. 


The nostrils are very near the snout, and lateral, but opening upwards and 
outwards. There are eight quadrilateral superior labial plates, sixth and seventh 
largest. The eyes are rather small, the pupil dark, the iris golden, the eye-lids 
dark brown, with an internal narrow yellow margin. The external meatus of the 
ear is oval and vertical, the tympanum pale flesh colour. 


The body is elongated, cylindrical, and covered above with small rhomboidal 
scales, imbricated, and arranged in longitudinal rows. 


The throat and abdomen are covered with scales approaching the hexagonal 
form, but are so rounded posteriorly and so imbricated as to appear semicircular. 


The tail is cylindrical, very long, and covered above with scales, larger than 
those on the back; below there is a central row of large plates, resembling those 
of the Boa. These plates begin about one inch behind the vent, between which 
and their commencement are three rows of imbricated scales; while in the 
Scincus quinquelineatus there are five rows of scales, which extend to half the 
length of the tail. The vent is transverse, with two large and two smaller scales 
in front. 


The anterior extremities are short, and covered with scales nearly hexagonal, 
but with their external angle rounded; there are five fingers, distinct, and each 
furnished with a small delicate and curved nail. The posterior extremities are 
well developed, covered with scales similar to the anterior; there are five long 
slender toes, each with a short curved nail. 


SCINCUS FASCIATUS. 129 


Cotour. The head and body above are beautiful bluish-black; the upper jaw is 
dusky, and the lower jaw bluish-white. A straw-coloured or yellowish-white line 
begins near each nostril, and unite at the occiput into a longitudinal vertebral 
line, which becomes pale blue as it passes the posterior extremities, and finally 
terminates about the anterior third of the tail; this line includes the half of two 
contiguous scales, and has regular margins. Above and in front of the orbit of 
the eye, begins another line of the same colour, or a little more yellow; it takes 
the same course, assumes the same blue colour when it has passed the posterior 
extremities, and terminates nearly at the same distance on the tail. Beneath this 
latter line is placed still another, which begins below and in front of the orbit, is 
interrupted at the external meatus, again recommences behind it, and is continued 
over the shoulder along the flanks to the end of the tail; these two lines include 
the upper half of one row of scales, and have their inferior borders only straight. 
Between these yellowish-white lines the scales of the back are so imbricated as to 
appear braided, like a whip-cord. 


The throat and abdomen are white. 


The anterior third of the tail is coloured like the back, but lighter, and the five 
lines are of delicate pale blue; beyond this the colour of the tail is the richest 
ultra-marine blue above, and a little paler below. 


The anterior extremities are brownish above and silver-white below, with a 
yellowish-white longitudinal line along the posterior face of the shoulder and fore- 
arm. ‘The posterior extremities are coloured like the anterior, and have a similar 
longitudinal line on their posterior surface; but this only extends the length of the 
thigh. y 


Divenstons. Length of head, 73 lines; length of body, from head to vent, 2 
inches 5 lines; length of tail beyond the vent, 5 inches; length of femur, 6 lines; of 
leg, 6 lines; of tarsus and toes, 9 lines: total length, 83 inches. 

Vo. I.—17 


130 SCINCUS FASCIATUS. 


Hasits. The Scincus fasciatus is found in shady places, principally in forests 
of oak, and frequently under the bark of decaying trees. It feeds on various 
species of insects, and is very lively and rapid in its motions; and as it climbs 
with facility, is not easily taken alive. It very seldom, however, takes to trees, 
unless to escape its pursuers; but, like the Scincus quinquelineatus, is almost 
always found on the ground, or on the trunks of fallen trees, which it chooses for 
its basking place. 


Gerocraruicat Distrisution. This animal is fotind in several of the Atlantic 
states; Haldeman has observed it in Pennsylvania; Dr. Geddings in Maryland; I 
have seen it in the Carolinas; and I have received specimens from Virginia and 
from Georgia near Florida: nor is the Scincus fasciatus confined to the Atlantic 
states, for Dr. Pickering observed it in Ohio, and Dr. Pitcher in the state of 
Michigan. 


Generat Remarks. It is not a little singular that this animal should have 
been so frequently confounded with the Scincus quinquelineatus, when they are 
so entirely distinct, as may readily be seen by a reference to the accompanying 
plates. Catesby first described the Scincus fasciatus, and gave a tolerable plate 
of it, under the name Blue-tailed Lizard, in his History of Carolina, We. 
Linneus next received it in the tenth edition of -his Systema Nature, under the 
name Lacerta fasciata; nor can there be any doubt of his meaning, for his first 
reference is to Catesby’s “lacerta cauda cerulea,” his second to Pettiver,* which 
reference must go for little, as no one can positively determine at this time what 
animal Pettiver had in view. The same description and the same references are 
continued in his twelfth and last edition; although here for the first time appears, 
as a new species, the Lacerta (Scincus) quinquelineata sent him by Garden. 
Gmelin also, in his edition of the Systema Nature, received very properly the 
Scincus fasciatus and Scincus quinquelineatus as diflerent species. 


* Gaz. Nat. et Art., pl. i., fig. 1. 


SCINCUS FASCIATUS. 131 


Schneider appears to have been the first to consider these two animals as 
nearly identical; for, in describing the Scincus quinquelineatus, he says: “Forte 
Linnei fasciata lacerta Carolinensis hinc non multum abludit;” and in this he has 
been followed by most Naturalists, as Latreille, Daudin, Dumeril and Bibron, &c., 
with the exception of Shaw. 


That they are distinct animals, I believe; for, 


1. Their whole colour is different. In the Scincus quinquelineatus the head is 
pale red; the body olive, tinged with green, with a broad, black, lateral band; 
the tail dusky; while in the Scincus fasciatus the head and body are bluish-black; 
the six lines about the head and five of the body are constant, and the tail always 
a beautiful ultra-marine blue: nor is this colour the result of injury, as some have 
supposed, for the colour is the more brilliant the younger the animal, as I have 
seen in hundreds of instances. 


2. And besides there is a difference of disposition of the plates and scales 
under the tail in the two animals, as above described. 


3. The geographical distribution of animals would, if it were properly known, 
go far in determining the identity of species; thus the Scincus quinquelineatus is 
a southern animal, and has never yet been found, as far as I know, north of 
Virginia, though abundant in the Carolinas, Georgia, and the more southern and 
western states, ascending high up the valley of the Mississippi; while the Scincus 
fasciatus inhabits the Atlantic states from Maine to Florida; but I am not aware 
that it exists west of the Mississippi. 


Nor am I yet prepared to believe with Temminck and Schlegel, that our Scincus 
quinquelineatus is identical with a Japanese animal, though there may be a great 
resemblance between them. Similar animals are frequently found within similar 
parallels of latitude, or, it might rather be said, where the temperature is nearly 
the same. Thus, in France and Germany are found the Common Toad, Bufo 


132 SCINCUS FASCIATUS. 


~ 


vulgaris, the Rana esculenta, the Rana temporaria, all of which are beautifully 
represented in the northern parts of the United States by the Bufo Americanus, 
the Rana helecina, and the Rana sylvatica; while in South Carolina many of the 
animals of Egypt (nearly in the same parallel) are represented by many closely 
allied species—the Crocodile by the Alligator, the Trionyx /Zgyptiacus by the 
Trionyx ferox, &c. &c. Yet none of these animals are identical. 


I cannot place this and the preceding animal as Dumeril and Bibron have done 
in their genus Plestiodon, because they lack the sphenoidal teeth, which is one of 
its strongest characters; and though the nostril really opens in a single plate, it is 
not in its middle, but so near its upper part, and the superior margin is so thin 
that the plate appears almost cresuntic. 


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133 


LYGOSOMA —Gray. 


Genus Lycosoma.—Cuaracters. Nostrils open in a single plate; anterior 
frontal plates wanting; palate without teeth, and with a superficial triangular 
notch near its posterior margin; scales of the body smooth. 


LYGOSOMA LATERALIS.—Say. 
Plate XIX. 


Cuaracters. Head short; snout rather full; ‘tail very long; body, as well as 
extremities and tail, above bronze, or at times chestnut coloured; throat silver- 
white; abdomen yellow; tail, beneath bluish, mottled with grey; a broad, black, 
lateral band from the head to near the extremity of the tail. 


Synonrmes. Scincus lateralis, Say, in Long’s Exped. to Rock. Moun., vol. ii. p. 324. 
Scincus unicolor, Harlan, Journ. Acad. Nat. Scien., vol. v. p. 156. 
Scincus lateralis, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 139. 
Lygosoma lateralis, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. v. p. 719. 
Ground Lizard, Vulgo. 


Descrietion. The head is short, and resembles a four-sided pyramid of nearly 
equal faces, truncated at its apex so as to make the snout rounded. The vertical 
plate is elongated-pentagonal, terminating im a point behind; there are four 
superior orbital plates, large, of irregular form, and bordered externally with a 


series of minute plates; the frontal are irregularly pentagonal, longest transversely, 
V. 2—17* 


134 LYGOSOMA LATERALIS. 


and touch each other only by an acute angle in front of the vertical plate; the 
centro-frontal is also irregularly pentagonal, most extensive in the transverse 
direction, and with its two posterior articulating facets slightly incurvated for the 
frontal plates; the nasal plate is single and quadrilateral; the rostral is sub-trian- 
gular, straight below and rounded above. There are three anterior orbital plates, 
quadrilateral, the superior largest, and between these and the nasal are two small, 
irregularly-quadrilateral loral plates. The occipital plates are five in number, all 
nearly of the same size; the two anterior are triangular, and reach near to the 
vertex; the middle one has nearly the same form, and the external are oblong. 


The nostrils are small, lateral, and open upwards and outwards in the midst of 
a single nasal plate; the eyes are small, the pupil is black, and the iris is of 
dusky-grey and very small. 


The tympanum is apparent, the entrance large, with its anterior margin 
destitute of projecting scales: two or three rows of very wide scales usually 
follow the occipital plates. 


The body is elongated, cylindrical, and nearly of the same size throughout, 
and covered, both above and below, with small, smooth, rhomboidal scales, 
most extensive transversely, imbricated, and disposed in thirty longitudinal rows. 
The vent is transverse, with large scales in front, and smaller ones behind; of 
the former, the two central are largest. The tail is round, exceedingly long, 
stout, and only diminishes in size suddenly near the tip, and is covered with 
scales similar to those of the body. 


The anterior extremities are small and short; the fingers are five in number, 
each furnished with a minute and curved nail; the posterior extremities are 
rounded; the toes five in number, each with a nail; the inferior surface of the 
fingers is serrated, from the projecting points of the scales or tubercles; the 
soles of the feet are also studded with small tubercles of equal size. 


LYGOSOMA LATERALIS. 135 


Corour. The whole superior surface of the head, body and tail, is a beautiful 
chestnut; the inferior surface is silver-white at the throat, yellow at the abdomen, 
and this colour extends for a short distance beyond the vent; the lower surface of 
the tail is blue, with a tmge of grey. In the female, the yellow of the abdomen 
is but slight, being little more than white with a yellowish tinge. A remarkable 
lateral line of jet black begins at the snout, runs through the eye, over the 
tympanum and shoulder, along the sides of the body and over the posterior 
extremities to beyond the middle of the tail; below this line the sides of the body 
are dark grey. The superior surface of the extremities is darker chestnut than 
the back; the inferior surface is light brown. 


Dimensions. Length of head, 43 lines; length of body to vent, 1 inch 3 lines; 
’ of tail, 3 inches 2 lines: total length, 4% inches. 


GeocrapuicaL Distrisution. The range of the Lygosoma lateralis begins 
certainly in North Carolina, whence I have received specimens; it extends south 
as far as the Gulf of Mexico, and is continued westward to the Mississippi 
river. Dr. Blanding has observed this animal at Camden, 8. C.; Leconte in 
Georgia and Florida; Say, on the Missouri, and how much farther west it may 
exist, cannot now be determined. 


Hasits. The Lygosoma lateralis may be seen by thousands in the thick forests 
of oak and hickory in Carolina and Georgia; they emerge from their retreats 
after sunset, in search of small insects and worms, on which they live; yet their 
motions are so quick, they appear and disappear so rapidly, that they might at 
first be mistaken for crickets or other insects. Though so numerous, it is difficult 
to secure them alive; for when approached, they conceal themselves with 
astonishing quickness under the roots of old and decaying trees, or beneath 
fallen leaves, or other vegetable substances; this decaying vegetable matter 
sometimes forms a stratum several inches thick, containing numerous holes and 
crevices, to which they can easily retreat, when they are pursued by their 


enemies. 


136 LYGOSOMA LATERALIS. 


GeneraL Remarks. This animal was first described by Say, in Long’s 
expedition to the Rocky Mountains. 


Though delighting in dark and shady forests, I have never yet observed the 
Lygosoma lateralis to ascend trees, either in search of food, or in its attempts to 
escape when pursued. 


137 


Famity. CHALCIDA. 


CHARACTERS. 


1. The head is rather small, and is covered with polygonal plates. 


2. The teeth are not implanted in the maxillary bones, but are applied to their 
inner surface. 


3. The tongue is broad, free, notched in front, covered with squamiform or 
filiform papille, and though slightly extensible, is not retractile in a sheath. 


4. The body is generally cylindrical, elongated or serpentiform, and has most 
commonly a deep groove along the flanks, produced by a fold of the skin. 


5. The body and tail are covered with verticillated plates or scales. 
6. The extremities are but slightly developed, or are entirely wanting. 


Only one genus of this family is found in the United States—Ophisaurus. 


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139 


OPHISAURUS —Daudin. Dumeril ct Bibron. 


Genus Opnisaurus.—Cuaracters. Head sub-oval; craneal plates very nume- 
rous; nostrils lateral; nasal plate single; eye-lids two, of unequal size; tongue 
arrow-shaped, notched in front, free in its anterior third, covered before with 
granular, and behind with filiform papille; palatine teeth in several rows; inter- 
maxillary teeth conical; maxillary, sub-cylindrical and simple; body serpentiform, 
with a deep longitudinal groove on each side; extremities wanting. 


OPHISAURUS VENTRALIS.—Linnzus. 


Plate XX. 


Cuaracters. Head sub-oval; snout rather long; body elongated, cylindrical, 
with a deep groove on each flank; body and tail with lines of black, green and 
yellow, each scale being marked with these three colours; abdomen yellow; under 
surface of tail dirty yellow, upper surface like the back. 


Synoyymes. Glass snake, Catesby, Carol., &c., vol. ii. p. 59, pl. lix. 
Anguis ventralis, Zinnzus, Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 391. 
Le Jaune et Brun, Lacépede, Quad. Ovip., tom. ii. p. 447. 
Anguis ventralis, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. Lin., tom. i. pars ii. p. 1122. 
Chamesaura ventralis, Schneider, Hist. Amphib., tom, i. p. 215, 342. 
Anguis ventralis, Latreil/e, Hist. Nat. Rept., tom. iv. p. 223. 
Ophisaurus ventralis, Dawdin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. vil. p. 352. 


140 OPHISAURUS VENTRALIS. 


Hyalinus ventralis, Merrem, Versuch eines Syst. der Amphib., p. 79. 
Ophisaurus ventralis, Cuvier, Reg. An., tom. ii. p. 69. 

Ophisaurus punctatus, et striatulus, Cuvier, loc. cit.; p. 70. 

Ophisaurus ventralis, Wager, Natiirlich. Syst. der Amphib., p. 159. 
Ophisaurus ventralis, Hardan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 111. 

Ophisaurus ventralis, Dumeril et Bibron, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. vy. p. 423. 
Glass Snake, Vulgo. 


Description. The head is sub-oval, elongated, with the snout slightly projecting 
and rounded, and is covered above with numerous small polygonal plates. The 
vertical plate is large, elongated, irregularly pentagonal, broader behind, pointed 
before and surrounded by many smaller plates. There are six large polygonal 
superior orbital on the outer side, which make an external, slightly projecting 
superciliary ridge, and this line of plates is continued even to the rostral plate. 
The frontal is large, irregularly rhomboidal, and surrounded by six smaller plates. 
There are seven small inferior orbital plates, with many small scales above them, 
and two small anterior orbital, between which and the nasal are eight or ten small, 
polygonal, loral plates disposed in three rows. The nasal plate is single and 
rhomboidal; the rostral is sub-triangular, rounded above and projecting in front. 
The upper jaw is covered with nine pentagonal, large, labial plates. ‘The nasal 
plate is simple, small, and quadrilateral. There are eleven superior labial plates 
on each side, the anterior of which is narrow, rhomboidal, and elevated to touch 
the plate, separating the rostral and nasal. The third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and 
sometimes the seventh are pentagonal and smaller; the eighth, ninth, and tenth 
are largest of all, and most extensive in the longitudinal direction; the eleventh is 
smallest. There are sixteen inferior labial plates, that of the chin largest. 


The nostrils are lateral and near the snout, but open upwards and backwards. 


The eyes are rather small, the pupil is black and the iris grey. The opening 
to the external ear is small, oval, and placed behind the angle of the mouth. 


The neck is not contracted, but is of the same size as the head and thorax. 


OPHISAURUS VENTRALIS. 14] 


The body is elongated, serpentiform, sub-cylindrical and deeply impressed with a 
lateral groove, very visible during respiration. Above it is covered with rhom- 
boidal, closely imbricated, but perfectly smooth scales, disposed in longitudinal 
and transverse rows, sixteen of the former and about one hundred and twenty of 
the latter between the neck and tail. 


The abdomen is protected with larger plates of hexagonal form, broadest 
transversely, and arranged in longitudinal and transverse series, ten of the first 
and one hundred and twenty of the second. 


The tail is very long, more than twice the length of the body, although about 
the same size at its root; it is perfectly round and tapers very gradually to its tip, 
and is covered with scales similar to those of the body, verticillated so as to 
make when entire about one hundred and forty rings. 


Cotour. The head above and at the sides is mottled black and green, tinged 
with yellow at the jaws. The body and tail above are marked with longitudinal 
and transverse lines of black, green and yellow, corresponding with the position 
of the scales. The under surface of the whole animal is bright yellow, most 
remarkable at the abdomen. Several varieties of colour have been observed in 
this animal by foreign herpetologists, which to me seems to be the effect of the 
liquor in which the specimen may have been preserved, or of long exposure; for, 
during life, I have never observed the colours other than those represented in the 
accompanying plate, varying only in brightness, and I have seen thousands. 


Dimensions. Length of head, 1 inch 2 lines; length of body to vent, 9 inches; 
length of tail, 18 inches 3 lines: total length, 28 inches 4 lines. I have examined 
specimens more than 3 feet 4 inches in length. 


Hasirs. The Ophisaurus ventralis chooses dry places for its abode, and passes 
much of its time in holes, or under the roots of old trees, and is often dug out of 
the earth with the sweet potato (Convolulus batatas) at harvest time. When 


142 OPHISAURUS VENTRALIS. 


alarmed, it moves with considerable swiftness, and is not easily taken without 
injury, for the vertebre of its long tail are articulated like those of a Skink, 
and are easily separated by a slight blow; indeed it is from this extreme fragility 
of the tail that the animal has received the common name of Glass Snake. 


GrocrarnicaL Distrisution. The Glass Snake is found on the Atlantic border, 
from southern Virginia to Cape Florida. It inhabits Alabama, Mississippi, 
and Louisiana, and is found in many of the States bordering on the Mississippi, 
Missouri and Ohio rivers. Its extreme northern range, west of the Alleghanies, 
seems at this time to be Michigan. 


GenerAL Remarks. Catesby was the first naturalist who described the Glass 
Snake, and gave a tolerable figure of it, though defective in colour. Linnus 
received it in the twelfth edition of the Systema Nature as the Anguis ventralis, 
which specific name has been generally adopted by succeeding naturalists. 
Schneider separated it from the genus Anguis, and placed it in his Chameesaurus. 
Daudin made for it a new genus, which he named Ophisaurus, and very properly, 
for the Glass Snake has really the external form of a serpent, with the internal 
organization of a saurian animal. 


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