lacer til I a

pl. [Neut. pl. of Mod. Lat. lacer. til is of or belonging to a lizard, from Lat. lacerta (q. v.). 1. Zool .: Lizards; an order of Reptiles. The teeth are not lodged in sockets: the limbs may be well developed or reduced to one pair, altogether absent; there is always a pectoral arch. The heart has two auricles and one ventricle. An epidermic and a dermal skeleton are sometimes present. The dorsal vertebræ have procœlous or amphicælous centers; their transverse proce es represented by simple tubercles, to which the undivided proximal ends of the ribs are attached. ( Huxley .) The order is divided into three sections: (1) Fi ilinguia, or Lep to glo a, in which the tongue is long, protrusible, and forked; (2) Brevilinguia, or Pachyglo a, in which the tongue is thick, fleshy, and not protrusible; (3) Vermil in gui a, in which there is a long worm-like tongue clavate at the end. 2. Palæont.: It has been supposed that certain reptilian remains of Middle Permian age may be Lacertilian, though some have considered them Crocodilian. If not Permian, Lacer til i a may have commenced in Tria ic times.