87 



RANA FONTINALIS.—Leconle. 



Plate XXL 



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

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

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



Synontmes. Rana fontinalis, Leconte, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y., vol. i. p. 282. 

 Rana flavaviridis, Harlan, 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 mouth is large, with two groups 

 of small palatine teeth. 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 cutaneous 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 dispo- 

 sition. 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. 



