224 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 288 



apparent. Skin of head not co-ossified with skull, roof of skull not 

 exostosed. 



Dimensions. — Head and body, 35.7 mm. ; head length, 12.5 mm.; 

 head width, 12.5 mm.; femur, 20.9 mm.; tibia, 18.9 mm.; heel-to-toe, 

 25.5 mm.; hand, 10.9 mm. 



Color in alcohol. — A yellowish ground color with rather distinct 

 scattered white spots dorsally. The dorsal white spots, about one 

 millimeter in diameter, are scattered over the top of head and dorsum. 

 A very narrow, indistinct white stripe originates on each side just 

 posterior to tympanum and terminates just anterior to groin. The 

 ventral surfaces are yellow, the belly being more brownish yellow 

 than the rest. 



Remarks. — The series of fresh specimens at hand from Leticia were 

 compared with a cotype of H. granosa gracilis Melin, and, as far as 

 we could determine from the preserved specimens, they are conspecific. 

 We also examined the type of Hylella pearsei Ruthven (MZUM 

 54639), and it appears to be an immature specimen of H. punctata. 



As Dr. Lutz points out (B. Lutz, 1951a), the species of allied 

 "green Hylas" are a "difficult group," and as yet no one has had 

 the opportunity to study all of the group's various forms in life. 

 This is particularly true in the northern Amazon basin, where there 

 seem to be a number of distinct but closely related forms and an even 

 greater number of available names. 



Variation. — H. punctata, as now understood, seems to be rather 

 uniform over a rather extensive range. The differences between the 

 series from Leticia in Amazonas, Colombia, and the series from 

 Trinidad are no more than one would expect between two series 

 collected and preserved by two different collectors at two different 

 times. The main difference discernible in any series of specimens of 

 punctata that we have seen is in the degree of spotting on the back. 

 Some specimens have no apparent spots on the dorsum; others are 

 quite distinctly spotted. This difference surely is due in part to the 

 time the various specimens have been preserved, but it may be due 

 in part also to the hour of day when the specimens were preserved. 

 Some individuals at night are nearly a uniform rusty red dorsally, and 

 the same individuals, if kept alive, at daylight, will have faded to 

 greenish brown dorsally with distinct yellowish spots. 



Specimens Examined 

 COLOMBIA 



Amazonas: Leticia, UF 8517, 8518 (6), 8519-20. 



Magdalena: Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Fundaci6n, MZUM 54639 



(type of Hylella pearsei). 

 Meta: Near Villavicencio, USNM 151944-5. 

 BRAZIL: Upper Rio Vaupds, NM 41-7893 ex. 467 (type of H. granosa gracilis). 

 TRINIDAD: UF 3647, 7300 (8), 7727 (2), 10986 (2), 10987-8. 



