556 



COLLEGE ZOOLOGY 



" slow-worm" or " blind-worm. 

 MacBride.) 



have poorly developed limbs or none at all. The glass " snakes," 

 Ophisaurus apus of Europe, and O. ventralis of America, have 



no limbs and move, 

 as do snakes, by 

 lateral undula- 

 tions. They can be 

 distinguished from 

 true snakes by the 

 presence of mov- 

 able eyelids and 

 an ear opening. 



FIG. 458. A limbless lizard, Anguis fragilis, the Their name is due 



(From Shipley and to the extreme 



brittleness of the 

 tail. Another species, called the " blind-worm " or " slow- 

 worm," Anguis fragilis (Fig. 458), inhabits Europe, western 

 Asia, and Algeria. It looks like a large, brightly colored 

 worm, but is not blind, since it has well-developed eyes. 



Family HELO- 

 DERMATID^E. 

 BEADED LIZARDS. 

 -The two species 

 included in this 

 family are the gila 

 monster, Helo- 

 derma suspectum, 

 of Arizona and 

 New Mexico, and 

 the beaded lizard, 

 H. horridum, of 

 Mexico and Cen- ^ 



riG. 459. I he Gila monster, Heloderma suspectum. 



tral America. (From Gadow.) 



The gila monster 



(Fig. 459) is the only poisonous lizard of the United States. 



It has a stout body and is conspicuously colored with bright 



