OCR Text |
Show 1873.] FROM CELEBES AND THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 1/1 HOLOGERRHUM PHILIPPINUM, Gthr. (Plate XVIII. fig. B.) This snake must be extremely scarce or very locally distributed, as none of the collections from the Philippines which have reached Europe during the last fifteen years contained another specimen. However, there appears to be one example in the Paris Museum, which has been figured by Jan under the name of Cyclochorus maculatus (Iconogr. livr. xxxvi. 1870, pl. 6. fig. 3). He states (Index des Planches) that this specimen is from Java, which is very doubtful. The groove of the posterior maxillary teeth is, in our specimen, not lateral, as figured by Jan, but anterior. I should now describe the nasal plate as divided rather than as single. Ventrals 144, subcaudals 40. POLYPEDATES SIMILIS. Closely allied to P. signatus, but entirely smooth. Canthus rostralis distinct; loreal region concave, vertical; eye large; tympanum not quite the size of the eye. Back and sides smooth, without granulation. Fingers slender, quite free, with very small disks; toes slender, two thirds webbed, also with the disks very small. Two small metatarsal tubercles. Inner nostrils narrow, but wider than the Eustachian tubes; vomerine teeth in two very short oblique converging series between the inner nostrils. Upper parts black, a well-defined greenish-white band runs along the upper margin of the snout and eyelid, and along each side of the back. No brown spots on the back or sides; a whitish line along the coccyx ; a well-defined whitish band along the margin of the upper lip, terminating below the tympanum. Legs transversely barred with brown and reddish white. Lower parts whitish. One specimen from Laguna del Bay. millims. Totallength 39 Fore limb 27 Third finger 8^ Hind limb 65 Tarsus 11 Fourth toe 18 PLATYMANTIS MEYERI. Similar in habit to Pl. plicifera, but with more slender limbs. Snout scarcely longer than the eye. Vomerine teeth on two very short and very prominent oblique ridges, situated inwards and backwards of tbe inner nostrils, very far apart. Inner nostrils and Eustachian openings narrow. Tympanum not half the size of the eye. Back with rather short longitudinal folds. Disks of fingers and toes extremely small. First finger a little longer than the second. Toes with a rudiment of a web. Two small metatarsal tubercles. Brownish above, marbled with darker; a broad light reddish band from the snout along the median line of the back. Lower parts whitish, throat marbled with brown. |