Only 4 genera, with about 15 species. _Zonurus_ of South Africa and Madagascar has the whole head, neck, back and tail covered with strong bony scales, the horny covering of which forms sharp spikes, especially on the tail. They defend themselves by jerking head and tail sidewards. _Z. giganteus_ reaches 15 in. in length, and is, like the other members of the family, zoophagous. The other genera live in southern and in tropical Africa: _Pseudocordylus_, _Platysaurus_ and _Chamaesaura_; the latter closely approaches the _Anguidae_ by its snake-shaped body, very long tail and much reduced limbs, which in _C. macrolepis_ are altogether absent. Family 8. _Xantusiidae._--Pleurodont; tongue very short and scaly; no osteoderms; supratemporal fossa roofed over by the cranial bones; eyes devoid of movable lids; tympanum exposed; femoral pores present; limbs and tail well developed. American. _Xantusia_ (so named after Xantus, a Hungarian collector), e.g. _X. vigilis_ and a few other species from the desert tracts of Nevada and California to Lower California. _Lepidophyma flavomaculatum_, Central America; and _Cricosaura typica_ in Cuba. Family 9. _Tejidae._--Teeth solid, almost acrodont; tongue long and narrow, deeply bifid, beset with papillae; no osteoderms; scales of the back very small or quite granular; limbs sometimes reduced. America. This large, typically American family comprises more than 100 species which have been arranged in many genera. Some are entirely arboreal, dwellers in forests, while others, like _Cnemidophorus_ and _Ameiva_, are strictly terrestrial, with great running powers; a few dwell below the surface and are transformed into almost limbless worm-shaped creatures. The family is essentially neotropical. Of its several dozen genera only two extend through and beyond Central America: _Ameiva_ into the eastern and western Hot-lands of Mexico, _Cnemidophorus_ (monographed by H. Gadow, _Proc. Zool. Soc._, 1906, pp. 277-375) through Mexico into the United States, where _C. sexlineatus_, the "swift," has spread over most of the Union. _Tupinambis teguixin_, the "teju" of South America and the West Indies, is the largest member of the family; it reaches a length of a yard, most of which, however, belongs to the strong, whip-like tail. _Teguixin_ is taken from the Aztec _teco-ixin_, i.e. rock-lizard, the vernacular name of _Sceloporus torquatus_ which is one of the _Iguanidae_ misspelt and misapplied. The tejus frequent forests and plantations and are carnivorous, eating anything they can overpower. They in turn are much hunted for the sake of their delicate flesh. They defend themselves not only with their powerful jaws and sharp claws, but also with lashing strokes of the long tail. They also use this whip for killing snakes which they are said to eat. Their long-oval, hard-shelled eggs are deposited in the ground.