41 



(Manado!, Posso !, Kema, Kandari). — Singapore; Penang; 

 Malay Peninsula; Siam ; Indo-China; Burma; S. India. 



Generally lives underground, burrowing; feeds on small 

 mammals and other snakes. 



5. Fam. COLUBRIDAE. 



Body round or compressed, covered with imbricate or jux- 

 taposed scales, with or without apical pits, smooth or keeled; 

 ventrals usually transversely enlarged. Bones of head movable; 

 ectopterygoid present; pterygoid extending to the mandible 

 or the quadrate ; supratemporal suspending quadrate ; prae- 

 frontal not in contact with the nasal. Maxillary horizontal; 

 jaws toothed, praemaxillary without teeth ; mandible without 

 coronoid ; a mental groove. 



With regard to the teeth, the Colubridae may be divided 

 into three groups: 



A. Teeth not grooved, solid i. Aglyplta p. 41. 



B. One or more posterior maxillary teeth grooved; 



more or less poisonous 2. Opisthoglypha p. 179. 



C. Anterior maxillary teeth grooved or perforated ; 



poisonous 3. Proteroglypha p. 215. 



Each group is composed of a number of subfamilies: 



Aglypha. 



1. Postfrontal bone produced over the supraorbital 



region; scales not imbricate. Aquatic Acrochordinae p. 41. 



2. Postfrontal bone not produced over the supra- 

 orbital region; scales imbricate. Aquatic, terres- 

 trial or arboreal Colubrinae p. 46. 



Opisthoglypha. 



1. Nostrils superior, valvular. Viviparous. Aquatic. Hoinalopsinae p. 179. 



2. Nostrils lateral. Terrestrial or arboreal Dipsadomorphinae ^. 194. 



Proteroglypha. 



1. Tail strongly compressed. Marine Hydrophiinae p. 215. 



2. Tail round. Mostly viviparous. Terrestrial .... Elapinae p. 241. 



Subfamily Acrochordinae. 

 Key to the In do-Australian genera. 



A. No distinct ventral shields. 



I. Body slightly compressed i. Acrochordus p. 42. 



