OCR Text |
Show 4 184 MR. G. A. BOULENGER ON NEW REPTILES [Mar. 6, XENELAPHIS ELLIPSIFER. (Plate XVI;) 29 teeth in the upper jaw. Eye large, twice as long as its distance from the edge of the mouth. Rostral once and a half as broad as deep, visible from above ; internasals nearly as long as the prefrontals ; frontal once and two-fifths as long as broad, as long as its distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals ; loreal a little longer than deep ; one preocular, with a rather large subocular below it, wedged in between the third and fourth upper labials; two postoculars and an elongate subocular separating the eye from the fifth and sixth upper labials ; temporals 2-J-2; eight upper labials, separated from the eye by the sub-oculars, or fourth entering the eye *; five lower labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are slightly shorter than the posterior. Scales smooth, in 17 rows, vertebrals not distinctly enlarged. Ventrals 186; anal divided ; subcaudals 134 (cf). Head and neck pale brown, sides of neck with interrupted black longitudinal markings ; body, with 18 large, elliptic, black-edged brown areas separated by cream-coloured narrow interspaces ; sides, between and below the brown areas, cream-coloured, spotted or marbled with black; tail, at the base marked like the body, in the second half uniform brown above with a black lateral streak; upper lip and lower parts uniform yellow. Total length 2 metres ; tail 60 centimetres. Head-waters of Sarawak River. The type, preserved in the Sarawak Museum, was caught in a fish-trap. This beautiful new Snake connects Zainenis with Xenelaphis. It agrees with the latter in the number of teeth and strikingly in the number and arrangement of the head-shields, but differs in the vertebral scales not being larger than the rest, a character which cannot be regarded as very important in view of its slight development in Xenelaphis hexagonotus. DISTIRA SARAVACENSIS. (Plate XIV. fig. 2.) Head moderate; body moderately elongate. Rostral broader than deep ; nasals shorter than the frontal, twice and a half as long as the suture between the prefrontals; frontal nearly twice as long as broad, as long as its distance from the rostral, shorter than the parietals ; one or two pre- and one postocular; seven upper labials, second largest, fourth or third and fourth entering the eye ; two superposed anterior temporals ; two pairs of chin-shields, in contact on the median line. 27 scales round the neck, 43 round the body ; scales imbricate, keeled. Ventrals distinct throughout, bicarinate, 306. Blackish, with 85 yellowish rings interrupted by the series of ventral scales ; a chevron-shaped marking on the upper surface of the head, the apex on the nasals, the branches on the prefrontal, supra-and postocular shields, and on the temple. Total length 710 millim.; tail 80. Sarawak coast. Type in the Sarawak Museum. 1 The former arrangement is shown on the right side of the unique specimen, the latter on the left. |