PYXICEPHALUS BREVICEPS. 411 



supratympanal fold ; a cross band between the eyes, and five rather irregular transverse bands 

 on the body ; large spots on the sides, and cross bands on the limbs. A yellowish vertebral 

 line from the snout to the vent. 



Trincomalee. Length of body 3^ inches, of the hind limb 5| inches. 



PYXICEPHALUS. 



Pyxicephalus, sp., Tschudi. 



Tomopterua [Bibr.) et Sphaerotlieca, Gibith. Batrach. Sal. pp. 7 & 20. 



Fingers quite free ; toes incompletely webbed. Vomerine teetb in two 

 oblique series ; tongue large, free and deeply notched behind. Openings of 

 the eustachian tubes small. Metatarsus with a flat, sharp-edged, shovel- 

 like prominence. 



The species of this genus belong to the South- African and Indian faunas ; those of the latter 

 may be distinguished thus : — 



Skin of the back nearly smooth . P. breviceps. 



Skin of the back coarsely tubercular P. rufescens. 



Pyxicephalus breviceps. 



Rana breviceps, Schneid. Hist. Amph. i. p. 142. Peters, Monatsber. Berl. Acad. 1863, p. 76. 

 Pyxicephalus fodiens, Jerdon, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. 1854, p. 534. 



pluvialis, Jerdon, I. c. 



Sphserotheca strigata, Giinth.' Batrach. Sal. p. 20. pi. 2. fig. A. 

 Tomopterna strigata, Giinth. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1860, p. 165. 



Body rather short and thick ; head thick, rounded, with short rounded muzzle and much- 

 swollen occiput ; limbs short ; fingers quite free, each with one or two very prominent 

 tubercles at the palmar surface ; metacarpus mth a larger, oval, outer tubercle and with a 

 smaller inner one; toes five, of moderate length, half-webbed, with indistinct tubercles; 

 first cuneiform bone with a flat, oval, sharp-edged spur. Skin smooth, ^vith some small 

 indistinct tubercles; head above covered with moveable smooth skin. Nostril near the 

 muzzle, very near the canthus rostralis ; cleft of the mouth moderate ; tongue cordiform, 

 free and deeply notched behind ; in the males on each side of the tongue a cleft for the vocal 

 sac ; vocal sac external, formed by two lateral bladders communicating in the middle. Inner 

 nares and eustachian tubes moderate ; tympanum rounded, distinct. Vomerine teeth in two 

 oblique series, convergent behind, but with an interspace between. 



Above yellowish brown, generally with a yellow dorsal band extending from the snout to 

 the anus ; upper parts with dark-brown, sometimes confluent spots ; crown with two oblique 



3 g2 



