Proceedings of the United States National Museum ^^^5^^ SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION . WASHINGTON, D.C. THE LIZARDS OF ECUADOR, A CHECK LIST AND KEY By James A. Peters Curator, Division of Reptiles This paper constitutes the second of a series devoted to the establishment of a framework upon which additional studies on the ecology and zoogeog-raphy of the Ecuadorian herpetofauna can be based. The first paper dealt with the snakes (J. Peters, 1960), and later studies will be concerned with the amphibians. The principle established in the earlier list has been abrogated, at least in part, since I have been forced to revise the genus Ameiva strictly on the basis of the Ecuadorian political unit. But I repeat my earlier opinion that such analyses are dangerous and can easily result in perpetuation of difficulties. Methods The method of organization in this check list is the same as that of the list of Ecuadorian snakes (J. Peters, 1960). The genera are presented alphabetically, and the species are alphabetical within their genus. It is, I think, true that the average user of the list will be interested in ease and speed of use, not in my contribution to the intricacies of the higher categories i
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