414 



AMBLTCEPH ALID M . 



Family VIII. AMBLYCEPHALID^. 



Eacial bones movable ; trauspalatiue pi'esent ; pterygoid short, 

 not extending to quadrate or mandible; supratemporal present, 

 .small; maxillary horizontal, converging posteriorly towards pala- 

 tines. Mandible without coronoid bone. Both jaws toothed ; 

 teeth all solid. 



Externally, these snakes are distinguished from the Dipsadiue 

 Coluhrido}, to which they bear some resemblance, by the absence of 

 a mental groove. The mouth is susceptible of but slight expansion, 

 the snakes of this group feeding upon small prey. The large size 

 of the eye and the vertical pupil indicate nocturnal habits. 



The Ambh/cephalidce are represented in the East Indies {Ainhly- 

 i-ephalm, Hajjhjpeltum) and in Tropical America (Dipsadomorus, 

 Lejitoijiiathus). 



Genus AMBLYCEPHALUS, 



Kubl, in Ferussac, Bull. Sc. Nat. ii, 1824, p. 81 ; Boie, Isis, 1827, 

 p. 519*. 



Maxillary teeth few, small, without grooved fangs ; anterior 

 mandibular teeth longest. Head distinct from neck, with short, 



Fig. 120. — Head of Amhlycephalus monticola. 



* Type : A. Icevis. 



