Vol. 35, pp. 5-6 March 20, 1922 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



A NEW SALAMANDER FROM MEXICO. 

 BY E. R. DUNN. 



Last August, while Mr. Prescott Townsend and myself were 

 collecting in the vicinity of Jalapa, we took five specimens of 

 a small salamander which seems undescribed. 



Oedipus townsendi, sp. nov. 



Type: Mus. Comp. Zool. 8017, adult male, Aug. 20, 1921. E. R. Dunn 

 and Prescott Townsend, collectors. 



Type locality: Cerro de los Estropajos near Jalapa, Vera Cruz, Mexico. 



Range: Known only from type locality and from Guerrero, in the state 

 of Hidalgo. 



Diagnosis: A small Oedipus with inner and outer toes rudimentary; 

 nostrils large in adult; teeth on maxilla; vomerine series of six teeth, not 

 extending beyond nares; four to five costal folds between appressed toes. 



Description: Type, 13 costal grooves; 5 costal folds between appressed 

 toes; head width 5 in length from snout to vent; head length 43<^ in length 

 of body; head a blunt oval; eye longer than its distance from tip of snout; 

 nostril very large, its diameter half that of pupil; snout swollen; outline of 

 upper jaw straight as seen from side; angle of jaw back of hind angle of 

 eye; both eyelids fitting under a fold of skin behind; a groove from eye to 

 gular fold; a branch from this down behind angle of jaw; limbs weak; 

 fingers 3, 2, 4, 1, in order of length, tips of third and second free, first and 

 fourth completely in web; toes 3, 4, 2, 5, 1 in order of length, tips of third, 

 fourth and second free, first and fifth completely in web; tail as long as 

 head and body, constricted at base, circular in cross-section; anal lips lined 

 with papillae. Vomerine series not continuous with parasphenoids, 6 

 teeth in series, beginning behind inner edge of nares, curving in and back to 

 meet its fellow, from which it is separated by no more interval than exists 

 between two teeth of the same series, separated from parasphenoids by its 

 own length; latter in a single patch beginning at middle of eyesocket; 

 teeth on maxilla to anterior edge of eyesocket; an enlarged tooth on pre- 

 maxilla does not pierce lip. Dark greenish above; black below; blackish 

 V-shaped markings, apex forward, on back and on upper surface of tail; 

 an indistinct light line on each side of back, most prominent above inser- 

 2— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. 35, 1922. (5) 



