OCR Text |
Show 1891.] TADPOLES OF THE EUROPEAN BATRACHIANS. 613 whilst differing from both its congeners in its larger size and its broader internarial space, and approaching B. vulgaris in its wide mouth, varies as regards its labial dentition between the two types. Heron Royer and Van Bambeke represent the labial dentition as very similar to that of B. culamita ; and whilst I have seen Italian specimens which agree tolerably well with the figure given by these authors, I have at the same time examined others from Breslau which would be pronounced as B. vulgaris, if that character alone were taken into consideration. The Italian specimens which I have examined all show the second upper labial series widely interrupted in the middle, but extending outwards nearly, or quite, as far as the first; the first lower series measures two thirds to three fourths the length of the second. The large series of specimens (about 50) from Breslau, for which I am indebted to the kindness of Prof. Born, shows every passage between the widely interrupted second upper series of teeth and one that differs in no respect from that of B. vulgaris ; the length of the first lower series varies from one half to three fourths the length of the second. Distance between the eyes about once and a half the distance between the nostrils, and equal to the width of the mouth. Tail three to four times as long as deep, broadly rounded at the end, its upper crest more convex than in B. vulgaris and a little deeper than the lower ; the depth of the muscular part of the tail about half the greatest total depth. Brown or greyish olive above, uniform or with small darker spots; belly greyish white; caudal crests greyish white, with or without small brown spots or dots. The following are the measurements of the largest specimen, from Breslau, examined by m e :-Total length 44 millim.: body 18, width of body 13 ; tail 26, depth of tail 9. The recently transformed young measures from 10 to 17 millim. from snout to vent. The tadpole of B. viridis has been described by He'ron Royer and Van Bambeke (I. c. p. 293, pi. xxiii. fig. 3) and by Bedriaga (Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc. 1889, p. 387). This species has a very wide geographical range. It inhabits the whole of Central and Southern Europe as far west as the Rhine and the Alps, the Balearic Islands, North Africa, and South-western and Central Asia as far east as Mongolia, Eastern Turkestan, Afghanistan, and the Himalayas. In Europe it is known to reach an altitude of nearly 6500 feet in the Alps of Savoy (R. Blanchard, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 1888, p. 67) ; ami in Asia it ascends the Himalayas to about 15,000 feet (Stoliczka, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xxxix. 1870, p. 155), which is, next to the altitude of 17,000 feet reached by Bufo vulgaris, the highest point from which a Batrachian has ever been recorded. The breeding-season falls between that of B. vulgaris and that of B. calamita, lasting from the beginning of April to the middle of June. Like B. vulgaris and unlike B. calamita, which is never to be found in the water except at night, the breeding individuals make a prolonged sojourn in the water. |