. Half hours with fishes, reptiles, and birds . Fig. 70. —AmericanChameleon. 106 THE LIZARDS the hand, and ran over me with impunity. One wouldsometimes rest on my hand as I wrote, its cunning eyeswatching every movement. The skeleton of the lizard is shown in Figure 71, andan examination will show that it is decidedly an advanceupon that of the snakes. The jaws are not extensible asin the latter, hence the lizard is confined to small insects,which are crushed by its sharp conical teeth. The tongue. Fig. 71. —Skeleton of a Lizard. is long and snakelike, often forked. With few exceptionsthe liz
. Half hours with fishes, reptiles, and birds . Fig. 70. —AmericanChameleon. 106 THE LIZARDS the hand, and ran over me with impunity. One wouldsometimes rest on my hand as I wrote, its cunning eyeswatching every movement. The skeleton of the lizard is shown in Figure 71, andan examination will show that it is decidedly an advanceupon that of the snakes. The jaws are not extensible asin the latter, hence the lizard is confined to small insects,which are crushed by its sharp conical teeth. The tongue. Fig. 71. —Skeleton of a Lizard. is long and snakelike, often forked. With few exceptionsthe lizards deposit eggs, and despite popular prejudice all,with the exception of the Gila monster or Heloderma, areharmless. The Gila monster is found in Arizona, New Mexico, andLower California. It is about two and a half feet in lengthand very sluggish, specimens when handled often refus-ing to move even when pushed along. They seem toprefer the hot, burning sands, and live upon such insectsand small animals as they can capture there. That thebite of this lizard is dangerous has been proved on manyoccasions. An acquaintance of mine had tied a specimento the back of his Mexican saddle, when, throwing his armaround, the creature seized his thumb in a bulldog-like THE LIZARDS 107 grip. Release without assistance was impossible, and thevictim made a heroic ride to the nearest town, havinga narrow escape. Animals, as rats and rabbits, die in a fewmoments after being bitten by the heloderma, the poi
Size: 2357px × 1061px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1906
