52 



Order III. SQUAMATA. 



Quadrate bone free distally ; no lower temporal arch. Ribs 

 single-headed. No plastron. Teeth not implanted in alveoli. 

 Anal opening transverse. Copulatory organ present, paired. 

 Three Suborders : 



1. LACERT1L1A, Lizards. Nasal bones entering the border 

 of the nasal apertures ; pterygoid in contact with quadrate ; 

 voiuei's distinct ; maudibular rami united by suture. Pec- 

 toral arch or its vestiges present ; clavicle present whenever 

 the limbs are developed. Tongue flattened. 

 II. RHIPTOGLOSSA, Chameleons. Nasal bones not bounding 

 nasal apertures ; pterygoid not reaching quadrate ; vonier 

 single ; mandibular rami united by suture. Clavicle absent ; 

 limbs well developed. Tongue vermiform, projectile. 

 III. OPHIDIA, Snakes. Nasal bones bounding nasal apertures ; 

 vomers distinct ; mandibular rami connected by ligament. 

 No trace of pectoral arch. Tongue flattened and bifid at the 

 end, and sheathed at the base. 



Suborder I. LACERTILIA. 



Lizards may be distinguished from Snakes, apart from the 

 osteological characters given above, either by the presence of four 

 limbs, or in all the limbless forms, which are not very numerous, by 

 the tongue not being retractile into a basal sheath, as in the Ophidia. 

 Eyelids and an ear-opening, absent in all Snakes, are usually, 

 though not always, distinct in limbless Lizards. Only one type of 

 Lizards, the American Hdoderma, is known to be poisonous. 



This suborder is divided into 20 families, of which the following 

 8 are represented in the Indian fauna. 



Synopsis of Indian Families. 



A. Tongue smooth or with villose papillae ; clavicle dilated, loop- 



shaped proximally ; no postorbital or postfronto-squainosal arches. 

 Vertebrae amphiccelian ; parietal bones distinct Fain. 1. Geckonidae. 

 Vertebrae proccelian; parietal single Fain. "2. Eublepharidae, 



B. Tongue smooth or with villose papillae; clavicle not dilated 



proxitnally. 

 Postorbital and postt'ronto-scLuamosal arches present ; 



supratemporal fossa not roofed over by bone ; 



tongue thick; acrodont Fain. 3. Agamidae. 



Postorbital and postfronto-squamosal arches present; 



supratemporal fossa roofed over ; bodv with 



