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. Aglypha 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. Homalopsiiiac p. 179. 



2. Nostrils lateral. Terrestrial or arboreal Dipsadoiiior pinnae p. 194. 



Proteroglypha. 



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



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



Subfamily Acrochordinae. 

 Key to the Indo-Australian genera. 



A. No distinct ventral shields. 



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



