CHECK-LIST AND KEY OF. PHILIPPINE SNAKES. 255 



h". PrKoeular- in contact with the, third labial only. 



e\ Thirty scale-rows around the body : Typhlops ruflcauda (Gray). 



D.araga and Paracale {Peters). Found only in the Philippines. 



c^". Twenty-six. scale-rows around the body Typhlops rubeV Boettger. 



Samar- (Boettger) . Only the type specimen recorded. 

 ar. Snout with a sharp horizontal edge; nostrils inferior. 



6*. Tail from 2. to 2.5 times as long as broad.. Typhlops olivaceus (Gray). 



Samar (Peters). Found also in the JNIoluecas and in northwestern 

 Australia. 



b^. Tail 4 to 5 times as long as broad.; Typhlops cumingii (Gray). 



Philippines ( Gray ) . Not recorded elsewhere. 



Family BOID^. 



Large snakes; with vestiges of hind limbs usually ending in a claw-like spur, 

 which is visible on each side of the vent. Teeth in both jaws ; 6.5 to 80 longitudinal 

 rows of scales ; ventral scales transversely enlarged. Represented in the Phil- 

 ippines by only 1 species. Not poisonous. Light brown, with large rhomtoidal 

 markings of dark brown .to black. A black line along the middle of the head 

 and on each cheek .: Python reticulatus (Schneider). 



Luzon (Peters); LagTina, Polillo, Palawan (Bureau of Science collection). 

 Found throughout Burma, Indo-China, the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago. 



Family ZENOPELTID^. 



This family consists of a single species. Teeth are found in the premaxillaj, 

 as well as in maxillse, palatines, and mandible. The dentary bone is movably 

 attached to the end of the articular.' Teeth small and numerous in both jaws 

 (33 to 38). Body cylindrical and thick; tail short, about one-tenth of the total 

 length; scales in 15 rows, smooth and highly iridescent, dark brown with lighter 

 edges on the back and sides, white below; head small, flattened, not distinct from 

 neck, snout rounded; eyes small, pupil vertical; easily distinguislied from other 

 Philippine snakes bj' the presence of an unpaired interparietal scale, between 4 

 parietals. Not poisonous _... Zenopeltis unicolor Reinhardt. 



Iwahig, Palawan (Bureau of Science collection) . Previously found in the 

 Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Celebes, and Java. 



Family COLUBRID^. 

 Series A. Aglypha. 



All the teeth solid, without grooves. Non-venomous. 

 ffi'. Scales not imbricate, very small and numerous; no enlarged ventral shields; 

 body and tail compressed, with a ventral fold ; aquatic. 



Subfamily Acrochordinae. 

 Only one species is recorded from the Philippines. 



Olive to black, with light transverse bands or rings. Found from 

 southern India to New Guinea. Very common in Manila Bay and the 



Pasig River Chersydrus granulatus (Schneider). 



Manila (Peters, Stelndachner) ; Los Bauos, Cabasao, Santik, 



' That the arrangement of these bones is peculiar can be noted without dis- 

 section, as the body of the mandibular ramus can be felt nearer the middle line 

 of the lower jaw than the dentary, and in a position markedly different from 

 its position in other snakes. 



