2i8 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



Pseudis, of South America, is composed of half a dozen 

 species, some of which have the tips of the fingers pointed, 

 while others have them swollen into small discs. The 

 pupil is horizontal. The tympanum is distinct. The 

 fingers are free, the toes extensively webbed. 



P. paradoxa, which in the adult does not attain a 

 larger size than our Common Frog, is remarkable for the 

 fact that its tadpole grows to a record size, much exceeding, 

 both in length and in bulk, the adult form. In consequence 

 of its enormous size, the tadpole was described by the old 

 writers as an animal which began life as a frog, but which 

 eventually turned into a fish. 



The family Bufonid^, which includes terrestrial, 

 burrowing, aquatic, and even arboreal types, is divided 

 into eight genera and about one hundred and twenty 

 species, distributed all over the world, with the exception 

 of Madagascar and a few islands in the Pacific. The teeth 

 are entirely absent in both jaws ; the processes of the sacral 

 vertebra are dilated. 



In the type genus Bufo, by far the largest of the family, 

 the tongue is elliptical or pear-shaped, and free behind. 

 The fingers are free and the toes more or less webbed, with 

 the tips simple or dilated into small discs. The tympanum 

 is usually distinct. 



The Common Toad, B. vulgaris, found all over Europe, 

 North-West Africa, and the greater part of temperate 

 Asia, is brown, olive, greyish, or reddish above, uniform, 

 or with brown or black spots or marblings. In Chinese and 

 Japanese specimens a yellow vertebral line is frequently 

 present. The head is large, with a short and blunt snout ; 

 the tympanum is small and sometimes indistinct. The 



