L"U Dl'.il' V. 



90. RHINOCHILUS. 



Rhinocheilus, Baird $ Oir. Cat. N. Am. Kept. p. 120 (1853) ; Cope, 

 Prof. Ac. Philad. 1860, p. 244 ; Jan, Arch. Zool. Anat. Phys. ii. 

 1863, p. 217 ; Bocourt, Miss. Sc. Mex., Rept. p. 602 (1886) ; Cope, 

 Proc. U.S. Nat. Mtts. xiv. 1892, p. 605. 



Maxillary teeth 16 to 19, the two posterior largest; anterior 

 mandibular teeth a little larger than the posterior. Head not dis- 

 tinct from neck, with pointed, strongly projecting snout; eye 

 moderate, pupil round ; rostral large. Body much elongate, cylin- 

 drical ; scales smooth, with apical pits*, in 17 to 23 rows. Tail 

 moderate ; subcaudals entire, or only the posterior divided. 



North America, Mexico, Venezuela. 



Synopsis of the Species. 



Scales in 23 rows 1. lecontii, p. 212. 



Scales in 19 rows 2. thominoti, p. 213. 



Scales in 17 rows 3. antonii, p. 213. 



1. Rhinochilus lecontii. 



Rhinocheilus lecontei, Baird 8f Gir. Cat. p. 120 (1853), and Rep. 

 U.S. Explor. JR. R. x. pt. Hi. pi. xxxiii. fig. 90 (1859;, and U.S. 

 Mex. Bound. Surv. ii. Rept. pi. xx. (1859) ; Jan, Arch. Zool. Anat. 

 Phys. ii. 1863, p. 217 ; Cope, Proc. Ac. Philad. 1866, p. 304 ; Jan, 

 Icon. Gen. 48, pi. iii. fig. 1 (1876); Garm. N. Am. Rept. p. 73 

 (1883) ; Bocotert, Miss. Sc. Mex., Rept. p. 602, pi. xl. fig. 7 (1886) ; 

 Cope, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. xiv. 1892, p. 606; Giinih. Biol. C.- 

 Am., Rept. p. 100 (1893). 



Rostral as deep as broad, the portion visible from above at least 

 half as long as its distance from the frontal ; suture between the 

 internasals as long as or a little longer than that between the 

 praefrontals t ; frontal a little longer than its distance from the end 

 of the snout or than the parietals, twice as broad as the supraocular ; 

 loreal longer than deep ; one or two prae- and two or three post- 

 oculars ; temporals 2 -f 2 or 2+3 ; eight upper labials, fourth and 

 fifth entering the eye ; three or four lower labials in contact with 

 the anterior chin-shields ; posterior chin-shields small, and separated 

 from each other by two or three series of scales. Scales in 23 rows. 

 Ventrals 191-206 ; anal entire ; subcaudals 40-55. Black above, 

 with brick-red square spots or cross bands ; head and sides black 

 and yellow ; lower parts yellowish white, with black spots, at least 

 on the sides. 



Total length 940 millim. ; tail 140. 



California to Texas. 



, *, e. d (V. 191, 205 ; Duval Co., Texas. W. Taylor, Esq. [C.]. 



C. 49, 50, 6 or 11 last 

 divided) & hgr. (V. 201; 

 C. 42, 8 last divided). 



* Stated to be absent in R. thominoti and antonii. 



t In spec, c the prsefrontalB are separated by the internasals, which are in 

 contact with the point of the frontal. 



