276 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



family or sub-order. New teeth are usually formed below the old ones. Some fossil kinds were 

 probably thecodont, or their teeth were in sockets. 



The second family of the sub-order Fissilingues is formed by the AMEIVID^E. Living in the New 

 World, these large reptiles have the head plated, rhombic scales on the back, and transverse rows ot 

 square ones on the belly. The tail is long and cylindrical in some and compressed in others. The limbs 

 are well developed ; the teeth are powerful and obliquely placed ; there are two transverse folds in the 

 skin of the lower region of the neck, and usually there are femoral pores. The COMMON TEGUEXIN,* or 



COMMON TEGUEXIN. 



South American Sauvegarde, may be taken as an example. It grows to more than a yard in length, 

 and has been said to attain four feet six inches, and the colour is variable on the back, where it is 

 always black, so far as the ground tint is concerned, but the beautiful yellow spots may be scattered 

 and small, or large and dispersed in cross bands, with a large spot on the flanks. The sprinkling 

 is seen often on the head and tail, and this is ringed with yellow and black. All the lower parts 

 are yellow, and are marked across with black bands. They have a great range in South America, from 

 Guiana to Paraguay inclusive, and are abundant, being found in sugar plantations and woods, and in 

 the Brazils in sandy or clayey districts, amongst scrub and bush. Often liking the neighbourhood of 

 the rivers and water, and running on the banks, they do not appear to go into the water readily, but 

 they can swim gracefully, using the tail as a propeller. 



Usually they burrow under the roots of trees, and they keep very much to the same spots, living 

 often in the hollows of trees. Azara says that when pursued they take to the water, and do not climb, 

 but it is doubtful whether they ever swim. They are strong, and swift in movement, not over bold, 



* Tejw teyuexin (Linn.) 



