MEXICAN TAILLESS AMPHIBIANS 207 



snout; transverse diameter of tympanum about two-thirds that of 

 eye; muzzle acuminate; interorbital space as wide as upper eyelid; 

 well marked dorso-lateral glandular dermal folds; black spots on 

 upperparts small and closely approximated; throat marbled with 

 dark gray; sides and posterior surfaces of thighs marbled with dark 

 brown or black on a grayish white background; continuous narrow 

 transverse dark bands on upper surfaces of hind limbs. 



The type of Rana nigricans Brocchi seems to be lost, and no entry 

 with corresponding data was found in the catalogues of the Museum 

 National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. 



A female frog collected by Alphonso Forrer at Presidio [de Mazatlan] 

 in Sinaloa, which was subsequently acquired by the British Museum 

 of Natural History, became the type of Ranaforreri Boulenger (B.M. 

 No. 1882. 12. 5. 7). This specimen is described in my notes as follows: 

 Head-and-body length, 71.6 mm.; transverse diameter of tympanum, 

 6.5 mm.; transverse diameter of eye, 8.1 mm.; anterior edge of eye 

 to nostril, 5.5 mm.; the hind limb being carried forward along the 

 body, the tibio-tarsal joint reaches nearly to end of snout; a distinct 

 tarsal fold; a large elongate internal metatarsal tubercle; muzzle 

 broad and rounded; interorbital space narrow, not quite half the 

 width of upper eyelid; numerous large light-edged black spots; large 

 prominent elongate glandules on back between dorso-lateral glandular 

 dermal folds; limbs with black crossbars; under surface of thighs 

 areolated. This is the specimen figured by Giinther on Plate 60, 

 Figure A, Biologia Centrali-Americana. 



Cope, in 1886, established the subspecific name austricola by remark- 

 ing that the "Mexican specimens referred to in these citations [i. e., 

 the synonymy for "Rana halecina Daudin (Kalm)"] constitute a 

 subspecies, which I call R. h. austricola." When we examine these 

 11 citations to the literature we find that mention of Mexican speci- 

 mens is made in only three. Giinther and Boulenger both refer six 

 Mexican specimens in the British Museum collection to Rana lecontii, 

 while Brocchi figures a frog from Vera Cruz, which is referred to 

 R. lecontei on the captions for the plate and in the text. Inasmuch 

 as it is generally the practice to select as the lectotype either a speci- 

 men or a published illustration actually seen by the original describer 

 before the description is published, I definitely choose the specimen 

 figured by Brocchi^" on Plate 4, Figure 1, of his "Etude des Batraciens 

 de I'Amerique Centrale" as the type of this subspecies. The illus- 

 tration published by Brocchi, if correctly drawn, shows that the 

 specimen, upon which it is based, differs from the diagnosis for the 

 subspecies austricola in having the muzzle obtuse at the end and the 



* Brocchi, P., Mission scientiflque au Mexique et dans r Amfirique Centrale, recherches zoologiques 

 Paris, pt. 3, sect. 2, p. 14, pi. 4, fig. 1, 1882, 



