Griffin: Leptodeira albofusca. 325 



distinguishes L. albofusca from L. anmdata there is evidently only a 

 single, variable species, Leptodeira anmdata (Linnaeus). 



A tabulation has been made of the scale formulae of the sixty-nine 

 specimens examined by me and of those reported in the available liter- 

 ature of the two species. The results suggest that, though we may 

 not be able to recognize more than one species in the assemblage, 

 there may be tendencies toward the formation of subspecies in different 

 parts of its range. But the entire number of L. anmdata which has 

 been collected is only a few score, and makes too small a series from 

 which to draw any conclusions. These also come from widely separ- 

 ated localities, m.aking it quite likely that, when collections have been 

 made in intermediate regions, the apparent distinction between 

 specimens from different localities may be bridged. I do not. there- 

 fore, regard these tabulations as more than interestingly suggestive. 



Sc-^le-Characters of Specimens from \*.\rious Regions. 

 Locality 



Mexico and Central America 



Ecuador 



Colombia, Venezuela, and Guiana . . 



Brazil 



Bolivia 



Peru 



Uruguay and Paraguay 



The specific characters of Leptodeira anmdata may be summarized 

 as follows: 



Rostral once and a quarter to twice as broad as deep, scarcelv 

 visible from above; internasals shorter than the prefrontals; frontal 

 once and one-fourth to once and two-thirds as long as broad, as long 

 as, or a little longer than, its distance from the tip of the snout, shorter 

 than the parietals; loreal of nearly equal dimensions; one pre-ocular 

 (rarely two), in contact with, or narrowly separated from, the frontal; 

 frequently a small subocular below the pre-ocular; two post-oculars 

 (rarely three); temporals i, 2, (rarely i, 3); eight upper labials (rarely 

 seven), the fourth and fifth (or less frequently, the third, fourth, and 

 fifth) bordering the orbit; five or six (rarely four) lower labials in 

 contact with the anterior chin-shields; anterior and posterior chin- 

 shields of nearly equal length. 



^ A single specimen reported by Steindachner. 

 ' A single specimen reported by Griffin. 

 * A single specimen reported by Boulenger. 



