246 



S AURIA. 



1. OLIGOSOMA ZELANDICUM, Grd. 

 (Plate XXVII, figs. 9-16.) 



SPEC. CHAR. Body rather short, covered with thirty longitudinal 

 series of scales. Snout short. Auricular aperture moderate, slightly 

 denticulated in front. Preanal scales larger than the adjoining 

 series. Olivaceous-brown above, streaked with black ; sides orange- 

 red, with a yellow, and two black streaks. Light brown beneath, 

 unicolor, except under the head. 



SYN. Tiliqua moco, GRAY, MSS. 



Lyijosoma moco, BUM. & BIBR. Erpet. gen. V, 1839, 718. 

 T'diqua zelandlca, GRAY, in Die/. Trav. New Zeal. II, 1843, 202. 

 M>coa zelandica, GRAY, Catal. Lizz. Brit. Mus. 1845, 82 ; &, Zool. Ereb. & Terr, 

 vr, 1845, 8. 



Oligosoma moco, GRD. in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. November, 1857. 



DESCR. The body is comparatively short, subcylindrical, broader 

 than deep ; the tail being once and a half as long as the body and 

 head combined, subcylindrical, somewhat depressed at the base, slender, 

 and tapering posteriorly into a point. The head is of medium size, de- 

 pressed, rather broad behind, narrow upon the snout, which is subtrun- 

 cated. The limbs are of moderate development ; the anterior ones 

 will nearly reach the orbit when brought forwards alongside the neck 

 and head, and when similarly bent backwards, they will extend beyond 

 the middle of the distance towards the groins ; in bringing forwards 

 the posterior pair, the extremities of the toes will reach the carpus, 

 and the fingers the tarsus. 



The nasal and postfrontal plates are separate ; the prefrontal, sub- 

 rhombic in shape, and broader than long, being contiguous in front 

 to the rostral, behind to the vertex plate, and sideways to the post- 

 nasal. The vertex plate itself is elongated, anteriorly broad and 

 angular, posteriorly spear-shaped, hence tapering. The parietals are 

 also elongated, subcrescentic, slightly overlapped anteriorly by the 

 vertex plate. The middle occipital is rather small and spear-shaped, 

 like the vertex plate ; its anterior angle engaging between the parie- 

 tals. The latero-occipitals inclose entirely the middle one, being con- 

 tiguous anteriorly to the parietal, the fourth supraocular, and the two 



