

CATAl.iHUE OF SHIELD REPTILES. 



7. Aiupkisbimia ? Dorwinii. 

 Amphisbena Darwinii, Dun*. § Bibr. Erp. (Wn. v. p. 491, 



Gray, /. .-. p. 71 : P. /■ ■ s '- l>' ; -"'. P- W8. 

 /la!: Monte Video (,.1/r. Darwin, Mus. Paris). 



8. Ainpkisbama plumbea. 



■ H.' ul raboonioa] ; frontal plates with one pair of 

 smaller .similar plates behind them; preanal pores four. 



Lmphisbama plumbea, sp. n.," Philippi? 



Ilab. Mendosa (B.M.). 



■ Eyes distinct. Seutella longer than broad; vertieilli 

 270+21. Six preanal shields. Uniform reddish grey- 

 above, whitish below." 



3. CYNISCA. 



11 Bad flat, narrow; nose conical, four-sided, rounded at 

 the end; rostral triangular; nasal plates very large, sol- 

 dried together, covering the front of the head ; crown with 

 a small frontal and a pair of parietal shields. Eyes di- 

 stinct : temples and occiput with large shields. Body very 

 slender ; lateral line distinct. Tail cylindrical, elongate, 

 truncated. Preanal pores numerous. 



Cynisca, Gray, Gat. Tort. $c. B. M. p. 71, 1844; Proc. 

 ' Zool. Soc. !-':•".. p. 448. 



1. Cynisca leucura. 



B.M. 



Cynisca leucura. Gray, Cat. Tort. Sfc. B. M. p. 71 ; Proc. 



/■'ol. Soc. 1865, p. 448. 

 Atnphisbama leucura, Dum. cj- Bibr. Erp. Gen. v. p. 498. 

 Amphisbaena macrura, Schlegel, Mus. Leyden. 



Brown ; end of tail white. 



Hob. Guinea (Mus. Leyden) (not Guiana, as stated by 

 mistake in the Catalogue). 



2. Cynisca ? violacea. 



Amphisba?na violacea, Peters, Berlin Monatsb. 1854, p. 620 ; 

 Wiegmann, Arch. 1855, p. 49. 

 Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1865, p. 448. 



Hob. East Africa, Inhambane (Peters). 



This species is unknown to me; it is without a single 

 frontal shield, and has four preanal pores and visible eyes. 



3. Cynisca quadrifrons. 



I ti.nl small, convex; muzzle elongate, rounded; eyes 

 distinct,. Rostral triangular, with its outer extremity bent 

 upwards. Two quadrangular naso-rostrals, which are con- 

 tiguous along their inner edges; after these follow four 

 fronti-naso-rostrals, of which tho inner larger ones are 

 long, quadrangular, and somewhat broader in front, and 

 have an inner obtuse and an outer acute angle. The outer 

 fronti-naso-rostrals are narrower but longer than the pre- 

 ceding, with their exterior longer edges bordering upon 

 the ocular and tho second supralabial, or even upon a 

 small part of the first supralabial, and their posterior short 

 edges contiguous with the frontal ; they also have an inner 

 obtuse and an outer acute angle. Frontals two, which 

 takeu together are broader than long, their front edge 

 being convex towards the fronti-naso-rostrals, on the 

 outer side with tho apex of their exterior right angle on 

 the ocular; with a long outer posteriorly straight edge, 

 bordering on the anterior upper temporals, and their pos- 

 terior short straight edges united with a pair of small scales, 

 which in size and shape are like those on the segments 

 of the body. The ocular is irregularly quadrangular, has 

 an anterior acute and an interior obtuse angle, is united 

 by tho longest anterior upper edge with the outer fronti- 

 naso-rostral, by the posterior upper edge with the anterior 

 upper temporal, by the posterior lower edge with the third 

 supralabial, and by the anterior lower edge with the second 

 supralabial. Separate ante-, post-, and supraorbitals do not 

 exist. Supralabials three, of which the middle- is the 

 smallest, the hinder the largest. Temporal plates, espe- 

 cially the two anterior overlapping ones, very large. Beside 

 the mental, which is longer than broad, and has parallel 

 sides, three infralabials cover the under lip on each side, of 

 which the first is acutely triangular, with its point inserted 

 between the submental and the second infralabial. This 

 last is very long, four-sided, broader in front than behind. 

 To the straight hinder edge of the mental is appended a 

 very cordate posteriorly acute submental, the end of which 

 is bordered by a pair of smaller submentals. Preanal pores 

 four, and anal lip with four rather long segments. 



Amphisbsena quadrifrons, Peters, Berlin Monatsber. 1862, 

 p. 25. 



By the small size of the body and the whole habit, as 

 well as by the large temporal plates, this species is allied 

 to both the hitherto known African Aniphisbaenians A. 

 leucura and A. violacea, from which they nevertheless are 

 very easily distinguished. 



A. leucura, D. & B., is distinguished by the union of the 



