THE GREAVED LIZARDS 2513 



the surf. Just as I thought he could not escape, he made a sudden dart into the 

 water, dived through the surf and disappeared." 



From observations made on specimens in captivity, it appears that these liz- 

 ards eat eggs by taking them in their mouths, raising their heads, and then break- 

 ing the shells, so that the contents are allowed to run down their throats. 

 Although but little is ascertained regarding their breeding habits, monitors are 

 known to lay white, soft-shelled eggs, which are deposited sometimes in the nests 

 of white ants. As many as twenty-four eggs, of a couple of inches in length, have 

 been taken from the body of a single female. By the Burmese these eggs are 

 much relished as articles of food, and command a higher price in the market than 

 hens' eggs. 



THE GREAVED LIZARDS 

 Family TEIID^ 



In America the place of the true lizards of the Old World is taken by a nearly- 

 allied group which may be termed the greaved lizards, some of which rival the 

 smaller monitors in size. In common with the remaining members of the suborder, 

 these lizards are distinguished from all the foregoing by their tongues, which are 

 slit at the tip and frequently shaped like an arrowhead, being either covered with 

 overlapping scale-like papillae, or marked by oblique folds. In all, the head is 

 covered with large symmetrical shields, very different from the small scales of the 

 monitors. They further differ by the collar bones being dilated, and often loop 

 shaped at their inner extremities. 



The greaved lizards . are specially characterized by the absence of a bony roof 

 to the temporal fossae of the skull, and by the shields of the head being completely 

 free from the underlying bones; there are no bony plates on the body. On the 

 body and tail the scales are arranged in transverse rows. The teeth, although very 

 variable, differ from those of the true lizards of the Old World in not being hollow 

 at the basej the replacing teeth being developed in small sockets at the roots of 

 those in use. In some cases these teeth, which may be either pointed or of a flat- 

 tened crushing type, are placed near the summits of the jaws, and in others some- 

 what on the side, so that the dentition is intermediate between the typical acrodont 

 and pleurodont modifications; the front teeth are always conical. On the palate 

 teeth are but seldom present, and, if developed, are small. The long tongue, 

 which is frequently retractile within a sheath, is generally covered with overlap- 

 ping scales; the drum of the ear is exposed, and the eyes are generally furnished 

 with lids. The majority of the forms resemble the true lizards in general appear- 

 ance, although in some the number of toes is reduced to four. In others, how- 

 ever, the limbs take the form of mere stumps, while the hind pair may be wanting, 

 in which case there is a near approach to the amphisbsenas. 



The greaved lizards comprise over a hundred species, arranged in thirty-five 

 genera, which are distributed over the warmer parts of America, although most 

 158 



