109 



SCAPHIOPUS .—HolbrooL 



Genus Scaphiopus. — Characters. Body short, thick, swollen; head short, 

 minute teeth in the upper jaw and on the palate, in two groups between the 

 posterior nares; tympanum distinct, though small; parotid gland small, from 

 Avhich a watery fluid can be pressed; posterior extremities short, stout, and mus- 

 cular; leg shorter than the thigh; a spade-like horny process occupies the position 

 of a sixth toe, and is used by the animal in excavating his retreat; males with a 

 sub-ffular vocal sac. 



&"■ 



SCAPHIOPUS SOLITARIVS.— HolbrooL 



Plate XXVII. 



Characters. Back olive coloured and somewhat warty, with two lines of pale 

 yellow extending from the orbits to the vent; beneath yellowish-white. 



Synonyme. Scaphiopus solitarius, Dumeril et Bibron, His. Nat. des Rept., torn. viii. p. 473. 



Description. This singular animal approaches nearly to the toad in form. 

 The head is short, the snout obtuse. The upper jaw is greenish-yellow, the lower 

 yellowish-white. The nostrils are very near the extremity of the snout, and 

 placed on a rounded prominence. The eyes are large and very prominent, almost 

 resembling warts or excrescences; the pupil is black, the iris golden, very brilliant, 

 and subdivided into four portions by two black lines. The tympanum is small, 



