Fam. 10. Tejidae.–American Lizards with a long and bifid tongue. The greater portion of the tongue is covered with scale-like papillae; the anterior forked and pointed ends are smooth. The teeth are solid and implanted almost upon the edge of the jaw, being therefore intermediate between the acrodont and pleurodont condition. The shape of the posterior teeth shows several modifications; they are conical or tricuspid, or molar-like in the adult Tejus; in Dracaena they are transformed into large, oval crushers. The palatines are in contact anteriorly. The infra-orbital fossae are surrounded by the palatine, pterygoid, and ectopterygoid bones, the maxillary being excluded from the fossa, as in Varanus (see Fig. 138, p. [542]). The skull has no supra-temporal arch. Osteoderms are absent; the body is covered with small scales, or the skin is simply granular above; the under surface is covered with larger scales, generally arranged in transverse rows.
This large family, which comprises nearly forty genera with more than a hundred species, exhibits great diversity of form. Some are inhabitants of forests and are arboreal, while others are strictly terrestrial, preferring hot and sandy plains, or they dwell below the surface and are transformed into almost limbless and blind-worm-shaped creatures. The range of the family extends over the whole of the South American continent, over the West Indian Islands, and through Central America into the warmer parts of the United States.
Tupinambis ("Teju").–The skin of the back is smooth, covered with small scales; with large scales on the top of the head. The skin on the neck is generally thrown into two irregular transverse folds. The long and narrow tongue is capable of being telescoped into a sheath at its base. The lateral teeth are compressed and tricuspid in the young, but the later generations of teeth have obtuse crowns in the adult. T. teguixin is the largest member of the whole family; it reaches a length of a yard, most of which, however, belongs to the tail. The general colour is bluish black, with pale or whitish-yellow spots on the back, flanks, and tail, combining into more or less transversely arranged bands. The limbs are black, with many and tiny yellow dots. The ground-colour of the under parts is reddish yellow, with irregular black bars. This species inhabits the greater part of South America, east of the Andes, from Uruguay to the West Indies. T. nigropunctatus is confined to the Continent, and lacks the dark cross-bands on the belly, which is uniformly yellowish or speckled with black.
Fig. 141.–Tupinambis nigropunctatus. × ⅙.
The "Tejus" frequent forests and plantations, and are carnivorous. Their strength and swiftness enable them to catch all kinds of animals, from insects and worms to frogs, snakes, mice, and birds. As they take chickens and eggs from the farms they are considered noxious, and they are frequently hunted down with dogs for the sake of their flesh, which is regarded as good to eat. They defend themselves with lashing strokes of their long tail and with their powerful jaws. They retire into burrows, and they deposit their hard-shelled eggs in the ground. In captivity they can easily be kept on meat.
Dracaena guianensis of the Guianas and the basin of the Amazon has the lateral teeth transformed into regular large molars, with broad and rounded crowns. The tail is strongly compressed, with a double, denticulated keel. It seems to be semi-aquatic, and, to judge from the teeth, herbivorous.
Ameiva and Cnemidophorus, with many species chiefly in tropical America, have laterally compressed bi- or tri-cuspid teeth. The skin forms a double fold on the neck, and is covered on the upper surface of the body with very small scales; those on the ventral surface are large, and arranged in regular rows. Most of the species are small, under one foot in length, and are extremely pretty, very active, timid, and mainly insectivorous.
C. sexlineatus is one of the few species of Cnemidophorus which inhabits the southern half of North America. Like all its relations it has the appearance of an ordinary lizard (Lacerta). The head is dark brown. A purple or brownish band extends over the back and tail, bordered on either side with three golden-yellow longitudinal lines. The flanks are brown, the under parts bluish white. The iris is golden, and the inner margins of the lids are bordered with a narrow band of bright yellow. This species is a very fast runner, and frequents dry and sandy places. Its total length amounts to about 10 inches.
Fam. 11. Lacertidae.–Pleurodont Old-World Lizards, without osteoderms on the body, and with the supratemporal regions roofed over by osteoderms.