CEPHALOPELTIS SCUTIGERA. 217 



Cephalopeltis SCUTIGERA, Gray. 



Spec. Char. — Pectoral shields from eight to twelve in number. Ab- 

 dominal partitions regularly quadrangular, larger than the dorsal 

 ones, which are more irregular, some being subelliptical. Fifteen 

 caudal verticils, with the dermic partitions or squares larger than 

 on the surface of the body. Color superiorly fulvous or white, with 

 a reddish-brown spot upon each scale. The head and neck are uni- 

 color, like the inferior region. 



Syi^. —AmpMshaena scutujera, Hempr. Yerh. Gesell. Naturf. Freunde, Berl. I, 1820, 

 129. 



Cephalopeltis cuvieri, MiiLL, in Tied. u. Trev. Zeitchr. fiir Physiol. IV, 1832, 253, 

 Tab. XXI, figs. 6 & 7 J & Tab. xxii, fig. 5, a, b, c. 



Lepidosternon hemprichii, WiEGM. Handb. Zool. 1832, 186. 



Cephalopeltis hemprichii, WiEGM. Herp. Mex. I, 1831, 20. 



Lepidosternon scutigerum, DuM. & BiBR. Erpet. gen. V, 1839, 509. 



Cephalopeltis scutigera, Gray, Catal. Tort. Croc. & Ampliisb. Brit. Mus. 1844, 73. 



Obsery. — One specimen of this species brought home by the Expe- 

 dition measures between seventeen and eighteen inches in total length, 

 an inch and a quarter belonging to the tail. The body is subcylindri- 

 cal, nearly equal in diameter throughout its whole length. The tail 

 itself is bluntly rounded off, almost as thick at the apex as at the base. 

 The head is rather small, subconical, broader than deep, and quite con- 

 vex above. The nostrils, placed under the extremity of the rostrum, 

 are conspicuous, close to the margin of the mouth, and opposite the 

 edges of the symphyseal plate. 



We observe twelve distinct pectoral shields symmetrically arranged 

 right and left, and a few additional ones irregularly disposed upon the 

 periphery of the principal group. Three pairs are much larger than 

 the rest : an anterior and a posterior pair, contiguous upon their mesial 

 line, and a medio-lateral pair, isolated by the former two. Three 

 other and much smaller pairs, placed exteriorly to those already men- 

 tioned, come next into notice, and smaller still are those at the peri- 

 phery of the group, and which have a tendency of being combined 

 with the adjoining folds of the integuments. 



Log. — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 



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