235 



CHARACTERS OF VERTEBRATE ANIMALS 



shields so characteristic of an ordinary snake being absent. 

 The small mouth is on the under side of the head, and cannot 

 be opened widely ; nor is this necessary, as the food consists of 

 ants and other small creatures. Strong horny plates protect the 

 front of the head, and each of the vestigial eyes is covered by 

 one of these. 



Blind-Snakes are widely distributed through the hotter parts 

 of both Old and New Worlds, one species, the European 

 Blind-Snake {Typhlops vermicularis), ranging from Western Asia 

 into Greece. 



Order 5. — Tuataras (Rhynchocephala) 



This order, which is of great age geologically, is of very 

 special interest, because it probably comes near the ancestral 

 stock from which all the groups of Reptiles have sprung, and 



Fig. 148. — The Tuatara [Hatteria punctatci) 



also, more indirectly, the Birds and Mammals. It is represented 

 at the present day by a solitary species, the lizard-like Tuatara 

 {Hatieria punctata) (fig. 148), now unfortunately on the verge 

 of extinction, and mainly found on, if not indeed absolutely 

 limited to, some small islands off the north-east coast of New 

 Zealand. In length it is about 20 inches, and, judging from 

 external characters only, would no doubt be classified with 



