| Fig. 3.—Monitor of the Nile (Varanus niloticus). |
The following families are much degraded in conformity with their, in most cases, subterranean life. They are of doubtful relationships and contain each but a few species.
Family 17. Pygopodidae.—Pleurodont, snake-shaped, covered with roundish, imbricating scales. Tail long and brittle. Fore-limbs absent; hind-limbs transformed into a pair of scale-covered flaps. Tongue slightly forked. Eyes functional but devoid of movable lids. Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea.
Pygopus, e.g. P. lepidopus, about 2 ft. long, two-thirds belonging to the tail, distributed over the whole of Australia.
Lialis burtoni, of similar size and distribution, has the hind-limbs reduced to very small, narrow appendages. The members of this family seem to lead a snake-like life, not subterranean, and some are said to eat other lizards. L. jicari, from the Fly river, has a very snake-like appearance, with a long, pointed snout like certain tree-snakes, but with an easily visible ear-opening; their eyelids are reduced to a ring which is composed of two or three rows of small scales.
(H. F. G.)
[1] For the etymology of this word, see [Crocodile].
[2] For anatomical detail and experiments, see R. W. Shufeldt, P. Z. S. (1890), p. 178; G. A. Boulenger, ibid. (1891), p. 109, and C. Stewart, ibid. (1891), p. 119.
