Some of these families are divided into subfamilies. The ending for 

 subfamily names is inae. Thus, the true frogs considered in this 

 work belong to the family Ranidae and the subfamily Raninae. 



The family is divided into genera and the genera into species. 



Ordinarily a scientific name consists of three parts; the first name 

 being the generic name, the second the specific name and the third 

 the author or describer who first gave the name. The specific Latin 

 name serves as an adjective agreeing in gender and number with the 

 generic name which is treated as a noun. This is the binomial system 

 of nomenclature. The meadow frog might serve as an example. It is 

 called Rana pipiens Schreber. The generic name is written with a 

 capital and the specific name with a small letter. If the species be 

 divided into one or more subspecies or races, the name may consist of 

 four parts: namely — genus, species, subspecies and authority. Such a 

 name is an example of trinomial nomenclature. The swamp cricket 

 frogs Pseudacris nigrita (Le Conte) may be divided into several sub- 

 species written thus, Pseudacris nigrita nigrita (Le Conte); P. n. 

 septentrionalis (Boulenger), etc. Witness the abbreviations after the 

 names Pseudacris and nigrita are once spelt out. 



List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles" by Leonhard 

 Stejneger and Thomas Barbour, Harvard University Press, 1923. 



We have added our own records through the years plus such 

 records as we have found in some of the smaller collections. 



Habitat. This topic usually refers to non-breeding habitats, but 

 at times allusions are made to breeding localities as well. 



Size. The formula we have employed is: Adults 3 1/5-6 3/5 inches 

 (Males, 80-156 mm. Females, 87-165 mm.). These are the measure- 

 ments of the large Colorado River toad, Bufo alvarius Girard. They 

 mean that breeding adults range from 3 1/5 to 6 ^/^ inches in length 

 of body from tip of snout to rear end of the body back of the vent. 

 The 3 1/5 inches or 80 mm. is the smallest size at which males mature 

 and 6 3/5 inches or 165 mm. is the largest size of any measured female. 

 Almost invariably the lower measurement in inches will be that of a 

 male and the greater adult measurement, the size of a female. 



Jordan and Evermann considered the two killifishes, Heterandria 

 formosa and Lucania ommata, the smallest vertebrates of North 

 America. We have collected many of these tiny fish, but confidently 



