HAWAIIAN LAND REPTILES— STEJNFAiEB. 



803 



Family SGINCIDJi:. 



THE SKINKS. 



Only three widely distributed species, each belonging to a distinct 

 genus, have been found in the Hawaiian Islands. The chief characters 

 by which they may be distinguished from each other are as follows: 



Fig. 10.— Side view of head op Leiolopisma. 

 Fig. 11.— ITppEK VIEW of head op Leiolopisma. 

 Fig. 12.— Upper view of head op Emoia. 

 CIS, Chin-shields ; d, disk on lower eyelid ; e, ear-opening ; /, frontal ; fn, frontonasal ; fp, 



FRONTOPARIETAL; (.INTERPARIETAL; ii, LOWER LABIALS; I, LOREALS ; lb, UPPER LABIALS; m, MENTAL; 

 n, NASAL; 110, NUCHALS ; p, PARIETALS; pf, PREFRONTAL; pn, POSTNASAL; r, ROSTRAL; «C, SUPRACILIARIES; 

 S», SUPRANASAL; .50, SUPRAOCULAR ; <, TEMPORAL. (ALL FIGURES ENLARGED.) 



a ' Eyelids well developed, movable (fig. 10). 



6 'Nostril pierced in the nasal; no siipranasal (fig. 10); frontoparietals and inter- 

 parietal distinct (fig. 11) ; two or three pairs of unchals (fig. 11). 



Leiolopisvia noitua, p. 805 

 6 ^Nostril pierced between three small shields, a nasal, a postnasal, and a supra- 

 nasal (tig. 12) ; frontoparietals and interparietal fused into a single large 



shield (fig. 12) ; a pair of nuchals (fig. 12) Emoia vyanura, p. 807 



a 2 Eyelids rudimentary, not movable (fig. 13). 



Ablepharus ioutonii poecilopleurus, p. 811 



The Hawaiian skinks are small, smooth, and shiny lizards of a more 

 or less bronzy or brownish-olive color, and with more or less conspicuous 

 longitudinal lighter stripes. They are con- 

 sequently very much alike in general appear- 

 ance, but a close attention to the structural 

 characters tabulated above will insure their 

 correct identification. 



The difference between the rudimentary, 

 nonmovable eyelids in Ablepharus pcecilo- 

 pJetirus and the well developed conniving 

 lids in the two other species is well shown in 

 the two figures, Nos. 13 and 10, respectively, 

 the eyelids being represented nearly closed 



in fig. 10. In the former the eye is large, staring, and uncovered, like 

 that of a snake, only surrounded by several narrow rings of granules, 



Fig. 13.— Side view of snout and 

 EYE of Ablepharus pcecilo- 

 PLEURUS. (Enlarged.) 



