HERJ'ETOLOGY OF PORTO RICO. 



JJtit nf ajieciiucnx of Ci/dunc cornuta. 



675 



Genus AMPHISB^EN A " Linneeus. 



1758. yl»i|)/«s6cC»a LiNN.EUs, 8yst. Nat., 10th ed., I, p. 229 (type A. fuli(jii«ifi(i). 



184o. Tijphlohlamis Fitzinger, Syst. Rept., p. 22 (type A. cant). 



1844. >S'amr, Gray, Cat. Tort. Brit. Mus., p. 71 (type .1. rum). 



1861. Diphalu.'< Coi'V-,, Proc. Phila. Acad., 18(51, j). 75 {type U. fenc'^lratu.'i). 



Figs. 127-128.— Shields on he.^d ok .Vmphisb.ena. /, frontal: U). supralabial: llli, first supralabial; 

 2ib, second supralabial; 3lb, third supralabial; ,'«, second lower labial; ///, mental; via/, malar; /(, 

 nasal; o, ocular; or, occipital; ;)/. prefrontal; j»//(, postmental; ^j?o, postocular; r, rostral; t, temp(.iral. 



The Amphisl)iVMii:uis are leg-less, hence siiakelike, lizards with the 

 eyes concealed under the skin of the liead, hence blind, or nearly so. 

 The Spanish name, '' ( '"It^hnta ciega,'' indicates the same. The animals 

 at tirst sight recall more a worm than a lizard, their flesh-colored tint 

 and arrangement of the skin in rings giving them the appearance of 

 large earthworms. 



Two species of ^intj)/i!.'<l><vna occur in Porto Kico, which may be 

 distinguished as follows: 



a'. Body rings 220-230; suture between nasal shields very short, one-fifth or less of 

 the prefrontal suture ; one tem])oral 1 . cax(t, p. 676. 



d\ Body rings about 250; nasal suture long, more than one-third of the prefrontal 

 suture; no temporal A. bakeri, p. 681 



aducpU/iaiva, a species of serpent supposed to be able to move both forward 

 and backward. 



