II !m:i.\ ic (;[Ki)i,K 



phalanoes. The Hylidae, and many of tlie clinilnng lueniber.s (if 

 the, llanidae with adhesive discs, possess an extra skeletal piece 

 intercalated between tlie lust and last l)nl one phalanges oi" the 

 iingers and toes. 'I'his piece, a mere interarticnlar cartilage in 

 Jfyla, is in the following- Haninae developed intd an additional 

 ]»halanx, so that their nundjers are 3, 3, 4, 4 in the liand ami 

 ."), 3, 4, 5, 4 in tlie foot: Cassiiui, lli/himhdlcs. Ihijipui, Mrtju. 

 I Ixalus, lihacojjhortfs, ('It i/'ommifis, Lndas, and Xydi.-fd us. AH 

 the other Eanidae are without this additional phalanx, ines]»ec- 

 tive of the presence or ahsence or size of digital ex]»ansions.' 



The pelvic girdle looks like a pair of tongs (see Fig. 4. 

 }i. 22). The ilium is enormoush' elongated and is movably 

 attached to the sacral diapophyses. This connection is always 

 pre-acetabular in position. The ilium and ischium co-ossify com- 

 pletely, and make up nearly the wliole of the pelvis: tlic pubis 

 is very small, and remains cartilaginous unless it calcilies. It 

 rarely possesses a centre of ossification, for instance in I'e/ohates, 

 where the osseous nodule is excluded from the acetabulum, 

 recalling certain Labyrinthodonta, whose ossa ]>iibis likewise 

 do not reach that cavity. 'IMie latter is t»pen or ]H!rforat('d in 

 young Anura and remains so in the iJiscoglossidae, but in the 

 others it becomes closed up as in the Urodela. The ventral 

 halves of the pelvis, besides forming a symphysis, closely approach 

 each other, just leaving room for the passage of tlie rectum and 

 tlu^ urino-genital ducts. 



The hind-limbs are in all cases longer than the Ibrc-limbs. 

 The femur is slender, the tibia and fibula are fused into one bone. 

 The tarsus is much modified by tlie great elongation of the two 

 proximal tarsalia (there being no intermedium^ into an astragalus 

 and a calcaneum, both of which fuse together distalh' ami 

 ]»roximally, or completely as in Frlodi/frs ; in tlie latter case the 

 lindj assumes a unique appearance, since il consists of llnce 

 successive and apparently single bars of nearly t'(|ual length. 

 The other tarsal elements, especially the more lateral ones, are 

 practically reduced to })ads. The Anura haAc thereby acipiired 

 two well-marked joints, one cruro - tarsal, the other tars<t- 

 na^tatarsal : this shows a high stage of specialisation in com- 

 paris(jn with the Urodelous and Stegocephalous ty])e of still 

 undefined joints. 



' i;(.uliii(/LT, /'.Z.S. 1888, ]. 20 1. 



