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Minor to India. Of Lacertae we have Anguidae, Agamidae, Lacertidae, Amphisbaenidae and Scincidae, most of them in Europe represented by but one or two species. Thus Blanus cinereus in Mediterranean countries, Asia Minor and See also:

SYRIA

Syria, represents the Amphisbaenidae which are found nowhere else in Europe or Asia, but plentiful in Africa and both Americas. Of the Anguidae, Anguis fragilis is peculiar to Europe, Ophisaurus apus in S.E.

Europe, another in Indo-Burman countries, with the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest of the species in N. America. Of Scincidae few in Europe, e.g. Chalcides s. Seps s. Gongylus, others from Asia Minor eastwards, e.g. Scincus, and Ablepharus in Turkestan. Agamidae do not occur in Europe but they exist in considerable See also:

numbers from Asia Minor and Turkestan to China, with Phrynocephalus peculiar to central Asia. Lastly, the Lacertidae, of which several species of Lacerta, Psammodromus, Acanthodactylus in Europe, but the See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority in Africa and warmer parts of India; in a similar manner the Manchurian forms are related to See also:

CHINESE, JAPANESE AND

Chinese. The See also:

TOTAL

total number of palaearctic See also:

SNAKES

snakes amounts to about sixty, the majority living in the Mediterranean countries and in W. Asia. One Typhlops in the See also:

BALKAN

Balkan See also:

peninsula and in W.

Asia, in Persia also Glauconia; Eryx jaculus extends into See also:

GREECE

Greece from S.W. Asia as See also:

SOLE (Solea)

sole representative of the Boidae. Several vipers, the See also:

COMMON

common See also:

VIPER

viper, V. berus, from See also:

WALES (Cymru, Gwalia, Cambria)

Wales to Saghalien See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

Island, V. aspis, V. latastei and V. ammodytes in S. Europe; a See also:

PIT (O. E. pytt, cognate with Du. put, Ger. Pfutze, &c., all ultimately adaptations of Lat. puteus, well, formed from root pu-, to cleanse, whence gurus, clean, pure)

pit viper, Ancistrodon, e.g. See also:

hales, in the See also:

CASPIAN

Caspian See also:

DISTRICT

district, thence this genus through China and again in N. America. Echis extends N. into Turkestan. The See also:

INDIAN

Indian See also:

COBRA (Naja tripudians)

cobra ranges N. to Transcaspia and far into China. All the other snakes belong to the aglyphous and opisthoglyphous Colubridae; of the latter Coelopeltis is peculiar to S. Europe and S.W. Asia; Macroprotodon cucullatus to S. See also:

Spain, the Balearic Islands and N. Africa; Tephrometopon peculiar to Turkestan and neighbouring countries; none extending into E.

Asia. Of the aglyphous colubrines the most characteristic genus is Zamenis incl. Zaocys, very widely spread and including more species than any other palaearctic genus; several species of the wide-ranging genus Tropidonotus, besides Coluber,with Rhinechis scalaris in S.W. Europe. There are, besides, other genera, especially in the debatable countries of S.W. Asia, Persia and See also:

AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan, and speaking generally the colubrines show less See also:

affinity to See also:

AFRICAN

African than to Indian forms, just as we should expect from the prevailing See also:

GEOGRAPHICAL

geographical conditions. If it were not for the N.W. corner of Africa and portion of its N. See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast, the European fauna would have very little in common with Africa.

End of Article: EUROPE AND TEMPERATE

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