XII XANTUSIIDAE TEJIDAE 547 



with yellow spots on the back and limbs, and with yellow rings 

 on the tail. Two yellow streaks separated by a black band 

 extend from the temples along the side of the neck. The under 

 parts are yellowish, sometimes with black spots. 



Fam. 9. Xantusiidae. — Three Central American, or West- 

 Indian genera, with less than half-a-dozen species. Pleurodont 

 loitli a short tongue and vnth the supratemporcd fossa roofed over 

 hy hone. The tongue is scarcely extensible, with oblique over- 

 lapping folds which converge towards the median line, and with 

 scale-like imbricate papillae towards the tip. The skull possesses 

 complete postorbital and postfronto-squamosal arches, the latter 

 meeting the parietals and roofing ovfer the supratemporal fossa. 

 The palatines are in contact with each other, and there are no 

 infra-orbital fossae. There are no osteoderms ; the body is 

 covered above with small granular scales, below with larger scales. 

 The eyes are devoid of movable lids. The tympanum is exposed. 

 Femoral pores are present. Limbs and tail well developed. 

 Xantusia and Leirldophyma. 



Fam. 10. Tejidae. — American Lizards with a long and bifid 

 tongue. The greater portion of the tongue is covered with 

 scale-like papillae ; the anterior forked and pointed ends are 

 smooth. The teeth are solid and implanted almost upon the edge 

 of the jaw, being therefore intermediate between the acrodont and 

 pleurodont condition. The shape of the posterior teeth shows 

 several modifications ; they are conical or tricuspid, or molar-like 

 in the adult Tejus; inDracaena they are transformed into large, oval 

 crushers. The palatines are in contact anteriorly. The infra-orbital 

 fossae are surrounded by the palatine, pterygoid, and ectopterygoid 

 bones, the maxillary being excluded from the fossa, as in Varanus 

 (see Fig. 138, p. 542). The skull has no supra-temporal arch. 

 Osteoderms are absent ; the body is covered with small scales, 

 or the skin is simply granular above ; the under surface is 

 covered with larger scales, generally arranged in transverse rows. 



This large family, which comprises nearly forty genera with 

 more than a hundred species, exhibits great diversity of form. 

 Some are inhabitants of forests and are arboreal, while others are 

 strictly terrestrial, preferring hot and sandy plains, or they dwell 

 below the surface and are transformed into almost limbless and 

 blind-worm-shaped creatures. The range of the family extends 

 over the whole of the South American continent, over the Wes^ 



