47 



SALAMANDRA AVRlCVLATA.—HolbrooL 



Plate XII. 



Characters. Head small, with a reddish-brown spot near the ear; body and 

 tail cylindrical, with a series of minute reddish-brown spots on each side. 



Description. The head is small, rounded above and in front. The tongue is 

 small, round, pediculated, and very movable. A thick group of minute teeth 

 begin behind the posterior nares, and unite in the middle of the palate; behind 

 this transverse row, after an interval of two lines, begins a longitudinal group, 

 which soon subdivides into two lines, diverging more and more from each other 

 near the posterior margin of the palate. 



The nostrils are small, lateral, and are wider apart than in the Salamanders 

 generally. The eyes are prominent, but small; the pupil is black, the iris reddish- 

 brown. The neck is slightly contracted, with a small cutaneous fold at the 

 throat. 



The body is long and cylindrical; the tail is long, round, but shghtly com- 

 pressed at the tip. 



The anterior extremities are small, with four fingers, of which the third is the 

 longest. The posterior extremities are also small, but thicker than the anterior; 

 they each terminate in five toes, of which the third is the longest. 



Colour. The Salamandra auriculata is dusky-brown above, rather darker 



