medially by 12 pubic scales; fourth toe
with 42 bi- or tricarinate subdigital scales;
four scales with enlarged triangular
"spurs" at the base of third toe.
Snout-vent length 130 mm, tail
length 273 mm.
Head olive with darker areas on the
sides and small yellowish spots on the
lower eyelids and under the eyes. Dorsum
blackish olive with two light dorsolateral
stripes, each 7 - 8 scale rows wide, and
with numerous whitish oval spots, their
olive-grey edges forming a characteristic
reticulum; rows of 4 - 5 oval spots between
the dorsolateral stripes; two indistinct
longitudinal whitish stripes between
fore limbs and hind limbs and along the
sides of the tail. Chin, throat, breast and
the anterior part of the venter grey with
indistinct round whitish spots and marks.
V a r i a b i l i t y within the paratypes
and comparison with closely related
species are presented in table 1.
K a r y o t y p e : The triploid karyotype
of L. guentherpetersi includes 18
metacentric and submetacentric macrochromosomes
and about 36 acrocentric microchromosomes.
It is difficult to count
the exact number of the latter because of
their small size, but the number of macrochromosomes
clearly indicates triploidy.
3n = 54: 18 M (VSV) + 36 m (A) (see
fig. 5).
D i s t r i b u t i o n : At present two
mainland populations and one insular population
from the central Vietnam provinces
of Binhtrithien and Quangnam-Danang are
known. An isolated population of this unisexual
species probably exists in South
Vietnam in the coastal dunes of the Province
of Thuanhai. From their external appearance
these individuals (which were observed
in 1987 by the first author of this
paper but unfortunately were not taken)
seem to belong to this species.
F i e l d n o t e s : In the area of the
terra typica the lizards live in coastal dunes
which are poorly anchored by sparse bushy
and grassy vegetation.