624 II. LEPTOTYPHLOP1D& 



a". Tail short, strongly compressed laterally, paddle- 

 shaped. 



Hydridae. p. 891. 



Family 11. LEPTOTYPHLOPID^ 



There are no large plates on the belly, the body being 

 covered everywhere with uniform scales. The head is very 

 small and continuous with the neck. The nasal plate reaches 

 the margin of the lip. The eye may be seen through the 

 ocular plate. One or two large plates precede the anus. The 

 tail ends in a small spine. A pelvic girdle is present, but 

 there are no external traces of limbs. The lower jaw is 

 toothed. 



The small, blind snakes belonging to this family are sim- 

 ilar in appearance to the Typhlopidse of the Old World and 

 tropical America, but differ in several structural features. 



The two genera which occur within the geographic limits 

 of this work may be distinguished by the following 



SYNOPSIS OF GENERA 



a. Ocular plate in contact above with the median series 

 of scales on the head. 



Siagonodon. p. 624. 



a". Ocular plate in contact above with a supraocular plate 

 which separates it from the median series of scales. 



Leptotyphlops. p. 627. 



Genus 22. Siagonodon 



Siagonodon PETERS, Sitzb. Ber. Ges. Naturf. Freunde, Berlin, 1881, 

 p. 71 (type, stftemstriatus). 



The body is cylindrical, covered with smooth, cycloid 

 scales. The rostral plate is very large, and is recurved on 

 both the upper and lower surfaces of the protruding snout. 

 The nasal plate is very large; behind it is the large ocular, 

 followed in turn by wide parietal and occipital plates. A 



