CROCODIMANS, LIZARDS, AND 8NAKES. 



553 



erally into three scuta, ofwiiich tlie iiiitciioi- is the lar.ner. The total 

 length of one of them (tail perfect) is 107 mm. The head plates become, 

 in the adults, somewhat corrugated. 



Xantusia 7-irersiana Cope. 



/-. i 1 ~ Number 

 Catalogue of^p^^i. 



■ mens. 



15172 

 15174 

 21554 



16321 

 16322 



Lo(!alitv. 



From whom receiTed. | Nature of specimen. 



San Clemen te Island, Call- C. S. Townaend, U. S. S. Al- 



foruia. batross. 



Coast of California do 



do do 



San Clemen te Island, Call- do 



foruia. 



do J. G. Cooiier 



Santa Barbara Islands, Call- do 



f'lirnia. 

 California do 



In alcohol 



do. 

 do. 

 do. 



do. 

 do. 



do. 



ZABLEPSIS Cope. 



Zahlepsis Cope, American Naturalist, 1895, p. 758. 



Pupil erect. The pairs of scuta on the muzzle, the middle pair being 

 the divided frontonasals. Frontal undivided; superciliaries present. 

 Frontoparietals in contact on the middle line: the occipitals separated 

 by an interoccipital. 



The scuta of Xantusiida?, like those of many of the Leptogloss fami- 

 lies, are a definite quantity, and very characteristic. I have hence 

 proposed to separate this form generically from Xantusia, since it 

 differs in the division of the frontonasal and the presence of an inter- 

 occipital. The latter plate is only found on this genus in the Xantu- 

 siidfc. 



But one species is known, and it inhabits southern California. 



ZABLEPSIS HENSHAVII Stejneger. 



Zablepsis henshavii Cope, Auier. Naturalist, August, 1895, p. 758. 

 Xantusia lienshawi Stk.inegek, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., XVI, ]>. 467. 



Dr. Stejneger's brief description of this s])ecies is as follows: 



Like Xantusia lutjilis it has but one series of superciliaries (or supraoculars), while 

 X. liversiuna has two. It is longer and slenderer than the latter, and is more de- 

 pressed than either. The color differs from both in being blackish-browu on the 

 upper surface irregularly marbled with cream-colored lines which on the tail incline 

 toward forming cross bands; under side whitish; scales on back small, uniform, flat 

 tubercles; ventral scales in fourteen longitudinal and thirty-three transverse rows, 

 preanal scales in three transverse rows, the two median posterior scales being the 

 largest; about ten femoral pores on each side. Total length, 148 mm.; length to 

 ])08terior edge of occipital ])lates, 13 mm.; length to vent, 05 nmi. 



Direct comparison of the type specimens wShows that this species is 

 quite nearly allied to the Xantusia picta. It resembles it in the i)ropor- 

 tious of the tail and in the flattened head and body. There are a good 

 many coincidences in the details of structure, as in the size of the dor- 

 sal and ventral scales, and in tlie number of femoral pores. The color- 



