Dragons, Dogs & Amadillos?

[EllieV]

Ellie, the 'apothecary's skink' is a nice idea. Do we have a taxonomic description for that one?

I have better - especially for you - Arabic source
   

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Or maybe it was meant for Apothecary's skink - the sandfish lizzard that is included in Materia Medica)

The head looks like that of a hog (in the drawing you found - not so much in the VMS drawing), which fits Pliny's description of the chameleon. Was the Apothecary skink ever described as having a hog's head?

No, no. The chameleon comes from a printed book and on the same page there is a poem about chameleon - it is emblem book, 16th century.
I meant it as example how the intention of the artist often cannot be recognized - unless we have the text to support it.
The VMs creature looks like so many different things - I am afraid we'll have to wait for the text on this one.

The apothecary sink is different example. It is included in Meteria medica as aphrodisiac. You can still buy those dried lizards in the Middle East. Scincus officinalis is a lizard that moves in the sand of the Sahara like a fish swimming in water. this is why they call it sandfish and in some versions of Materia medica is drawn with fish tail - it doesn't have a fish tail in real life
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