85 



RANA FONTINALIS.— Lecon/e. 



Plate XVI. 



Characters. Body above green, with dusky spots behind; throat and abdomen 

 yellow; posterior extremities dark green, with transverse dusky bars; a cuticular 

 fold, elevated into a ridge, from the orbit to the posterior extremities. 



SrNONYMES. Rana fontinalis, Leconte, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y., vol. i. p. 283. 

 Rana flavaviridis, Harl., Med. and Phys. Res., p. 103. 



Description. The head is short, but rather pointed; the nostrils are lateral, 

 and nearly midway between the eyes and the snout. The eyes are very large 

 and prominent; the pupil is dark, with a golden iris, beautifully reticulated with black, 

 and having an inner circle of bright yellow. The tympanum is very large, bronzed, 

 with a lighter spot near its centre. The head above is bright green; the upper 

 jaw is green, the lower yellowish-white, with a few dusky marks. The throat 

 is bright yellow. The body is elongated, but full and large, with a cuticular fold 

 elevated into a ridge on each side, extending from the orbit to near the thighs. 

 The anterior half of the body is light green; the posterior very dark green, 

 sometimes with a tinge of olive, and is always marked with dusky spots, varying 

 in size and disposition. The animal is sometimes seen more dusky than the one 

 figured in this work, but only in cold weather — the colours I have observed most 

 brilliant when the weather is hottest. The inferior part of the flanks is yellowish- 

 white, mottled with black spots. The anterior half of the abdomen is bright 

 yellow; the posterior half yellowish-white. 



The anterior extremities are pale green above, yellowish-white below, with 



