ANNULATA VERMILINGUIA. 



217 



Fossil remains of Lizards have been found in great numbers, the 

 oldest from the uppermost strata of the Jura. The Lizards of the 

 chalk (Mosasaurus, etc.), which are most nearly related to the Moni- 

 tors, were of gigantic size. 



Sub-order 1. Annulata. Body snake-like, with hard scaleless 

 skin, which is divided into rings by transverse 

 furrows (fig. 642). These rings are again crossed 

 by longitudinal furrows in such a way that the 

 surface has an elegantly plated, mosaic-like ap- 

 pearance. There are large scutes only on the 

 head and throat. There is no sternum, and the 

 pectoral girdle, except in Chirotes, remains very 

 rudimentary. 



Rudiments of a pelvis are in all cases present. 

 As a rule extremities are wanting, but small 

 front feet (Chirotes) may be present. Eye-lids 

 and tympanic membrane are absent ; the small 

 eyes are covered by the integument. A columella 

 is also absent. The tongue is short and thick, 

 without sheath, and the dentition, as in the 

 scaly Lizards, is either acrodont or pleurodont. 

 They are harmless animals, and live for the 

 most part in America, like the Cceciliadce, 

 beneath the ground, usually in ant-hills, and 

 feed on Insects and Worms. 



Fam. Amphisbaenidae. Amphisbcena alba L., Brazil ; 

 A. fuliginosa L., South America (fig. 642). Chirotes 

 lumbricoides Flem. Mexico. 



Sub-order 2. Vermilinguia. Lizards of the 

 Old World, with vermiform tongue, which can 

 be protruded with great rapidity to a great 

 distance, and deep laterally compressed body, 

 which is covered with a shagreen-like skin. The 

 structure of the skull differs considerably from 

 that of the other Lizards, in that the parietal bones are not mov- 

 able on the occipital, but are firmly united to the latter and to the 

 occipital crest, which is continued over the parietals. 



Fam. Chamaeleonidae. The feet are prehensile, and end with five digits, which 

 are arranged in bundles of two and three. The digits of each bundle are con- 

 nected together as far as the claws, and the two bundles work on one another 

 like the arms of a pair of pincers. The long and slende 1 tail is prehensile, 



FIG. 642. Amphislaena 

 fuliginoia (regne ani- 

 mal). 



