Hurler — He.rpetology of Missouri. W^ 



home in the day-time. No two ever inhabit the same hole, 

 hence the name Hermit Spade-foot, or solitarius. 



''When the cold nights of fall begin, the Spade-foot 

 leaves its summer home and looks out for one more suit- 

 able for the winter season. It generally chooses the warm 

 southerly side of a hill, and excavates deeply for its new 

 quarters. I found one over three feet below the surface. 



"Mr. Andrew Nichols in the Essex County Journal of 

 Natural History states that in Danvers, Mass., about the 

 years 1812 and 1825, after a great rain in summer, and on 

 August 12, 1834, and again on June 16, 1842, the Spade- 

 foots appeared for breeding purposes, never being noticed 

 in the intervening years — a most remarkable fact." 



Family Ranidae. 



Upper jaw furnished with teeth. Vomerine teeth present or absent. 

 Transverse process of sacral vertebra little or not at all expanded. 

 Vertebrae procoelous. Ribs none. (Hay.) 



Genus rana. 



Teeth on upper jaw and on vomers. Tongue free behind and notched. 

 Tympanum usually distinct. Fingers free. Toes webbed. Outer meta- 

 tarsal separated by a web. 



Contains more than one hundred species, living in all countries ex- 

 cept southern parts of South America and New Zealand. Cope assigns 

 thirteen species to North America, seven of which occur in Missouri. 

 (Hay.) 



Key to the Missouri Species of Rana. 



Without a black ear patch. 



Dorso-lateral dermal folds present; heel reaching nearly to 



the muzzle or beyond it; back with well defined dark brown, 



pale edged oval or round spots. pipiens. 



Dorso-lateral dermal folds large, with smaller ones between; 

 heel to front of orbit; tympanum one-half the diameter of eye; 

 brown spots so large as to reduce ground color to a net-work 

 of narrow lines; three phalanges of fourth toe without web. 



areolata. 



Dorso-lateral dermal folds four; the quadrate spots of back in 

 rows; two phalanges of fourth toe free of web; heel to front of 

 orbit, or sometimes to muzzle. palustris. 



