430 ANELTTROPID^. 



Fam. 19. ANELYTROPID^. 



Gymnoplithalmi, part., IViecimaim, TIerp. Mex. 1834. 



Scincoidieiiri tvpLK)phthalnu'.s, jiart., Dumeril ^ Bihrmi, Erp. Gen. v. 



Typhlinidpe, part., Grai/, Cat. Liz. 1845. 

 Auelytrupidse, Cope, Froc. Ac. Philad. 1864. 

 Anelytropidae, Buidenger, Ann. ^- Mckj. X. H. (5) xiv. 1884. 



Tongue short, slightly nicked anteriorly, covered with imbricate 

 papiUie. Teeth few, conical, slightly hooked, none on the palate, 

 luterorhital septum and columella cranii well developed ; no bony 

 postorbital or postfrontosquamosal arches ; prtemaxillary single ; 

 infraorbital fossa present, bounded by the palatine and transverse 

 bones ; palatines aud pterygoids not meeting on the median hne of 

 the palate. Limbs absent ; pectoral and pelvic arches reduced to 

 a small slender bone on each side. Abdominal ribs present*. 



Body vermiform, with osteodermal plates as in the 8cinndce f. 

 Eyes concealed under the skin. No ear-opening. No pra?anal 

 pores. 



The few members of this family, a degraded type of the Scincidce, 

 with which they are closely connected through the genus Aconiias, 

 are burrowers, and up to quite recently were believed to be con- 

 fined to Tropical and South Africa ; a genus newly added by Cope 

 is from Mexico, showing that the Scincoid Lizards have undergone 

 in the New "World the same degenerative process as in the Old 

 World. 



Synojysls of the Genera. 



I. Longitudinal series of scales in odd number ; several small 



scales border the anal cleft. 



Nostril pierced between the rostral, a nasal, and the first labial. 



1. Anelytropsis, p. 430. 



Nostril pierced in the rostral only .... 2. Feylinia, p. 431. 



II. Longitudinal series of scales in even number ; a large prae- 

 anal scale ; rostral covering the snout. 



3. Typhlosaurus, p. 432. 



1. ANELYTROPSIS. 



Anelytropsis, Cajte, Proc. Anier. Fhilos. Soc. xxii. 1885, p. 380. 



Nostril pierced at the junction between the rostral, the nasal, 



* Cf. Peters, Reise n. Mossamb. iii. pi. xiii. fig. 1. 



t Tlie statement made in tlie Synopsis of the Families (Vol. i. p. 3) tliat 

 osteodermal plates are absent is erroneous. 



