. The Cambridge natural history. Zoology. XII VARAN IDAE 543 covered with very small juxtaposed scales and tubercles above, while the ventral scales are squarish and arranged in transverse rows. Osteoderms are entirely absent. The tail is very long, often laterally compressed. The teeth are large and pointed, dilated at the base. The premaxilla is unpaired and dorsally extends backwards to the likewise unpaired nasal. There is a pair of small supra-orbital bones, easily lost during maceration. The orbit is open behind, the jugal being short and not meet- ing the postfrontal; the postorbital fo
. The Cambridge natural history. Zoology. XII VARAN IDAE 543 covered with very small juxtaposed scales and tubercles above, while the ventral scales are squarish and arranged in transverse rows. Osteoderms are entirely absent. The tail is very long, often laterally compressed. The teeth are large and pointed, dilated at the base. The premaxilla is unpaired and dorsally extends backwards to the likewise unpaired nasal. There is a pair of small supra-orbital bones, easily lost during maceration. The orbit is open behind, the jugal being short and not meet- ing the postfrontal; the postorbital forms a slender arch with the supratemporal. The vomers are long and diverge posteriorly. The palatines, pterygoids, and ectopterygoids enclose on either side an oval infra - orbital foramen. The Varanidae contain only one genus, Varanus, with nearly thirty species in Africa, Southern Asia, and Australia, but not in Madagascar. '^''^^ ° rni Fig. 139.—Map showing the distribution faranus.—ihe name of the Varanidae. of " Monitor" bestowed upon these creatures has a curious origin, owing to a ridiculous etymological mistake. The Arabic term for Lizard is " Ouaran " ; this has been wrongly taken to mean warning lizard, hence the Latin Monitor, one of the many synonyms of this genus,^ Mydrosaurus and Psammosaurus. Many of the " Monitors " are semi-aquatic, others inhabit dry, sandy districts, while others are at home in well-wooded localities. They are all rapacious, taking whatever animals they can master according to their size, which in some species amounts to 6 or 7 feet. V. niloticus inhabits the whole of Africa, except the north- western part. It reaches a length of more than 5 feet. The colour of the adult is brownish or greenish grey above, with darker reticu- lations and yellowish ocellated spots on the back and limbs. The under parts are yeUowish with blackish cross-bands. The ground- colour of the young is black above with yellow line
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1895
