40 



CATAI.om-K OF S1I1KI.1) REPTILES. 



** Sternal plate all separate, symmetrical Bpheno- 

 cephalus, 



2. Lepidosternon Grayii. B.M. 



Head rather short, broad ; the vertebral plate hexagonal, 



elongate, as long as broad; the frontal plate very short 



and broad: the parietal shields oblique; the occipital 



much longer than broad: temporal shields larger on the 

 sides of the occipital ; plates of the sternal disk symme- 

 trical, in oblique diverging lines. 



Lepidosternon Grayii, .1. Smith, MS. Brit. Mvts. 

 Gray, I'. /.. S. L865, p. 452, f, 5, 6. 



Uab. South America '? (Brit. Mns.). 



Fig. 23. Fig. 22. 



Lepidosternon Grayii. 



Sternal disk formed of four diverging lines of uniform, 

 similar-sized, symmetrical shields : the shields on the cen- 

 tral line smaller, being divided down the centre by a 

 straight suture. 



In 1848, Dr. (now Sir Andrew) Smith sent to the British 

 Museum this specimen, with the name of Lepidosternon 

 Grayii, informing me that he had described (or intended 

 to describe) it in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society ' 

 under that name. I cannot find that it has been so de- 

 scribed, nor can I find any notice of it in any other work, 

 though it is very like, but evidently distinct from, the Lepi- 

 dosternon pkocoma of Dume'ril and Bibron, figured by M. 

 d'Orbigny (Toy. Amer. Merid.). 



3. Lepidosternon phocaena. B.M. 



Head broad ; the vertebral plate elongate, small, larger 

 than broad, acute at each end ; the frontal and occipital 

 plates large, shorter than broad, the frontal the largest ; 

 the parietal plates short, broad, band-like ; the plates of the 

 sternal disk uniform, symmetrical, oblique. 



Lepidosternon phocsena, Dirni. £f Bibr. Erp. Gen. v. p. 507. 

 Gray, ( 'at. Tort. 4r. B. M. p. 73 ; P. Z. S. 1865, p. 453. 

 D'Orbigny, Voy. Amer. Merid. Kept. t. 6. f. 7-10. 



Hab. Buenos Ayres (Bridges, B. M. : stuffed). 



M. d"Orbigny"s figure is very like the preceding species; 



but the head is represented shorter, the frontal plates are 

 rather larger. The long occipital shield of that species is 

 lure represented by two pairs of square shields, as if the 

 large plate of the former species wero divided across ; it 

 also appears to be a shorter, thicker species. 



The stuffed specimen which wo received from Mr. Bridges 

 agrees with the figure in all these particulars ; but the head 

 appears rather larger, perhaps from its being rather dis- 

 torted in the preparation. 



Both the figure and the specimen belong to a species 

 evidently very distinct from L. Grayii, and much thicker. 



4. Lepidosternon octostegum. 



Lepidosternum octostegum, A. Dttme'ril. 



Steindachner, Novara Bept. p. 53 ; Zool. Record, 1867, 

 p. 134. 



Tribe II. CEPHALOPELTINA. 



The head depressed, covered above with a single, simple, 

 or transversely divided, flat, horny, nail-like shield ; pec- 

 toral disk formed of elongated, symmetrical shields ; the 

 dorsal and lateral lines very narrow, indistinct, except 

 near the hinder part of the body. 



Cephalopeltina, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 453. 



A. Tlie pectoral elish formed of large, diverging, unequal, 

 polygonal, symmetrical shields; the crown-shield di- 

 vided into two by a transverse suture. America. 



2. CEPHALOPELTIS. 



Head covered with two large shields, the front one 

 smaller : the sternal disk of eight or ten large shields ; the 

 two central pairs parallel, one in front of the other ; the 

 lateral pairs diverging. 



Cephalopeltis, J. Midler, Tied. Zeitsch. fur Phys. 1831, iv. 

 p. 269. 



Gray, Cat. Tort. &c. 1844, p. 73; P. Z. S. 1S65, 

 p. 454. 



1. Cephalopeltis scutigera. 



B.M. 



Cephalopeltis scutigera, Gray, Cat. Tort. Sfc. B. M. p. 73 : 



P.Z.S. 1865, p. 454. 

 Cephalopeltis lepidosternon, Midler, 1. c. t. 21. f. 6 (skull). 



t. 22. f. 5 (head). 

 Amphisbsena scutigera, Hempr. Naturf. Freund. zu Berlin, 



1820, p. 127. 

 Lepidosternon scutigerum, Bum. <$• Bibr. Erp. Gt'n.x. p. 509. 

 Cephalopeltis Cuvieri, Midler, Zeitsch. Physiol. 1832, iv. 



p. 253, t. 20. f. 5, t. 21. f. 6 & 7. 



