TARBOPHIS 



217 



Eastern Europe, South- Western Asia, and Africa. 

 Two are dealt with here. 



ig. Tarbophis fallax, Fleischmann 



(Aihcrophis vivax, Bonaparte) 



The Cat-Snake 



Form. — Moderately slender. Head much de- 

 pressed. Tail five and a half to seven times in the 

 total length. 



Head-Shields. — Rostral broader than deep, just 

 visible from above. Internasals shorter than the pre- 

 frontals. Fron- 

 t a 1 much 

 broader than 

 the supraocu- 

 lar, once and 

 one - fourth to 

 once and a 

 half as long as 

 broad, as long 

 as its distance 



Fig. 32 



from the end of the snout, shorter than the 

 parietals. Nasal divided or semidivided. Loreal 

 twice and a half to thrice as long as deep, entering 

 the eye below the preocular, which is in contact with 

 the frontal. Two (rarely three) postoculars. Tem- 

 porals small, scale-like, 2 or 34-3 or 4. Upper 

 labials eight (rarely seven or nine), third, fourth, and 

 fifth (rarely fourth and fifth, or fourth, fifth, and 



