MEXICAN TAILLESS AMPHIBIANS 133 



Vomerine teeth absent; tongue circular or suboval, slightly 

 notched behind; fingers and toes with adhesive disks, the 

 former webbed at the base and the latter extensively webbed. 

 Hylella (p. 179) 



Genus GASTROTHECA Fitzinger 



1843. Gastrotheca Fitzinger, Systcma reptilium, fasc. 1, p. 30. [Genotype, Hyla 

 marsupiata Dum^ril and Bibron, 1841, Erp^tologie gen^rale, vol. 8, p. 598, 

 pi. 98 (Cuzco, Peru).] 

 1854. Notodelphys Lichtenstein and Weinland, Monatsber. k. preuss. Akad. 

 Wiss. Berlin, p. 373, July. [Genotype, Notodelphys ovifera Lichtenstein 

 and Weinland, idem, p. 373 (Puerto Cabello, Venezuela).] [Preoccupied 

 by a genus of Entomostraca, Notodelphys Allman, 1847, Ann. and Mag. 

 Nat. Hist., ser. 1, vol. 20, no. 130, p. 2, July.] 

 1858. Nototrema Gunthek, Catalogue of the Batrachia Salientia in the coUec- 

 V. , tion of the British Museum, p. 115. [Genotype, Hyla marsupiata Dumeril 

 ■..'■ and BiBRON, 1841, Erp^tologie gen(5rale, vol. 8, p. 598, pi. 98 (Cuzco, Peru).] 

 1858. Opisthodelphys Gunther, Catalogue of the Batrachia Salientia in the 

 collection of the British Museum, p. 117. [New name for Notodelphys 

 Lichtenstein and Weinland, preoccupied.] 



One of the most extraordinary adaptations for protecting the devel- 

 oping eggs is found in the marsupial frog Gastrotheca. The female has 

 a dorsal pouch into which the eggs are probably introduced by the male. 

 The whole development of the embryo, including the gilled stage, is 

 passed within the gelatinous capsule of the egg in some of the species. 

 In some of the South American species, particularly G. marsupiata, 

 about 100 large eggs are deposited in the dorsal pouch and only a part 

 of the metamorphosis is undergone within the egg. In this species 

 the young escape from the common brood pouch in the tadpole stage. 

 In other species, especially G. ovifera, a few unusually large eggs are 

 introduced into the dorsal brood pouch, and there the young remain 

 until the metamorphosis is completed. The life history of the Mexican 

 species, G. coronata, is unlaiown. 



GASTROTHECA CORONATA Stejneger 



1858. Opisthodelphys ovifera Gunther, Catalogue of the Batrachia Salientia in 

 the collection of the British Museum, p. 117 (Cordoba, Mexico). [Nee 

 Notodelphys ovifera Lichtenstein and Weinland, 1854, Monatsber. k. 

 preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, p. 373, July; and Weinland, 1854,in Joh. Miiller's 

 Archiv. f. Anat. u. Physiol., Berlin, pp. 449-477, pis. 17-19 (Puerto Cabello, 

 Venezuela) .] 



1882. Nototrema oviferum Boulenger, Catalogue of the Batrachia Salientia s. 

 Ecaudata in the collection of the British Museum, 2d edit., p. 418. — Gun- 

 ther, 1901, Biologia Centrali-Americana, Reptilia and Batrachia, p. 288, pL 

 74, fig. A, Sept. 



1911. Gastrotheca coronata Stejneger, Proc. U. S. Nat. iMus., vol. 41, no. 1857, 

 p. 287, Aug. 14. 



Type locality. — Palomo, Valle de Orosi, Cartago, Costa Rica. 



