OCR Text |
Show 1892.] FROGS IN THE INDIAN MUSEUM. 345 8. RANA TENASSERIMENSIS, sp. n. (Plate XXIV. figs. 4, 4 a.) Vomerine teeth not well developed, in one specimen absent altogether, in another in two oval groups between the choanae ; no papillae on the tongue; head short and rounded, with indistinct canthus rostralis and slightly concave loreal region ; nostril a good deal nearer the tip of the snout than the eye ; interorbital space somewhat wider than the upper eyelid; tympanum distinct, about two-thirds the size of the eye; fingers and toes moderate, the tips dilated into quite large disks, about one-third the size of the tympanum ; first finger much shorter than the second ; toes rather less than one-third webbed, webs extending to about a level with the first joint of the phalanges ; subarticular tubercles moderate ; a small oval, flat, inner metatarsal tubercle; no tarsal fold ; a fringe along the fifth toe ; tibio-tarsal articulation reaching to a level with the front of the eye ; skin of the back wrinkled into short longitudinal glandular folds; a fold from the eye to the shoulder above the tympanum. Above brown, with darker spots and scattered white blotches ; limbs both fore and hind cross-barred; beneath lighter brown, minutely speckled with darker. Length, snout to vent 22 millim. This Frog seems to be most nearly allied to R. leptodactyla, from which, however, it differs in wanting the free pointed papillae of the tongue and having shorter legs. It is altogether a very distinct species. It is perhaps somewhat near to R. hascheana, Stol. (above, p. 344), from which, however, it differs in its rough granular skin, its indistinct vomerine teeth, and lastly, and chiefly, in its very much larger fingers and toe-disks. There are five examples of this species in the Indian Museum, all collected by Mr. Limborg in Tenasserim. 9. RANA GRACILIS, Gravenh.; Boulenger, Ind. Rept. p. 456. The type of Lymnodytes macularius, Blyth, which species has been identified by Boulenger with R. gracilis, Gravenh., agrees very well with the description given of this Frog by Boulenger (loc. cit.), except for the fact that the skin above is very distinctly granulate, as in R. malabarica. 10. RANA NIGROVITTATA (=TYTLERI) and R. ERYTHRCEA. The distinction drawn by Boulenger, namely, the presence of an outer metatarsal tubercle in R. ty fieri and its absence in R. erythrcea, does not seem to be very constant; in fact the only difference of specific value between the two forms seems to be that in R. erythrcea the dorsal glandular lateral fold is very much thicker and more prominent than in R. tytleri. The type of Hylorana tytleri of Theobald, which is in the Indian Museum, has a very thick glandular lateral fold, and must therefore be referred to R. erythrcea ; the other species, the form described by Boulenger under the name R. tytleri, will therefore require |