OCR Text |
Show 1880.] PALAEARCTIC AND ETHIOPIAN TOADS. Dimensions. 565 From snout to vent Length of head Breadth of head From eye to nostril From eye to tip of snout.. Greatest diameter of orbit Interorbital space Diameter of tympanum .. Length of parotoid Breadth of parotoid Body Fore limb Hind limb Tibia a. m. 0-048 0-013 0-016 00035 0-0065 0-006 00035 0-002 0008 0004 0035 0-028 0055 0016 b. m. 0051 0015 0018 0-0035 00075 0-007 0004 0-002 0-009 00045 0036 0034 0-061 0018 c. m. 0-061 0016 0-020 0-0035 0-007 00065 0-004 0-002 0010 00045 00045 0032 0065 0-018 d. m. 0-035 0-010 0012 0-0025 0-005 0005 00025 o-ooi 0-006 0-004 0-025 0.019 0-037 0011 a. S • Cape of Good Hope. British Museum. Presented by Dr. Smith. b. S • Cape of Good Hope. Paris Museum. c. 2 • Cape of Good Hope. Paris Museum. d. Young. Cape of Good Hope. British Museum. Type of B. gariepensis, Smith. Description.-This is a small species, resembling greatly B. calamita in its physiognomy and coloration ; it never exhibits, however, any trace of parotoid-like gland on the calf. Two characters which can generally be considered very important and constant, are subject here to great variation; one of them is the cutaneous tarsal fold, which is either perfectly developed or entirely absent; the other resides in the subarticular tubercles under the toes, which in most specimens are simple, in others two-rowed. The head resembles very much that of B. calamita ; but the interorbital space is rather broader. The nostrils are equally distant from the tip of the snout and from the anterior corners of the eyes ; the space between them is rather less than that between one of them and the lip. The tympanum is very distinct, small, rounded; its diameter equals one third, or rather less, of the greatest orbital diameter. The cleft of the mouth extends to the level of the front edge of the tympanum. The tongue is generally broader than in B. calamita, its breadth being contained about once and half in its length. The parotoids are not very prominent, elliptic, oval, or subtriangular, and generally about twice as long as broad ; but, as in most species, their proportions are subject to great variation; there is always a rather considerable space between their front edge and the upper eyelid. The body is nearly thrice as long as the head in females, twice and a half or a little less in males. The fore limb is nearly as long as the body in males, much |