22 



BULLETIN 17 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



After they have reached the mountain pool, they grow into thick- 

 tailed, large-mouthed tadpoles having no back fin. The mature 

 larva in its adhesive mouth and slim body form is well adapted to life 

 in a mountain stream. 



Relationships. — Although one might be inclined to believe at first 

 glance that the closest relative of Hyla vasta is the equally large 

 Hyla lichenata of the neighboring island of Jamaica, examinations of 

 the life history of the two species lead to different conclusions. All 

 the Jamaican frogs lay their eggs in bromeliads, while all the His- 

 paniolan ones go through the normal procedure of depositing eggs in 

 streams, as Dr. Dunn points out. Dr. Noble believes that Hyla 

 vasta is related to some basin-breeding species on the mainland of 

 South America, possibly to Hyla rosenbergi. 



Specimens examined. — As listed in table 6. 



HYLA HE3LPRINI Noble 



Figure 6 



1923. Hyla heilprini Noble, Amer. Mus. Nov., No. 61, p. 1 (type locality, Lo 

 Bracita, Prov. Pacificador, Dominican Republic). — Barbour and Love- 

 ridge, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 69, No. 10, p. 279, 1929.— Barbour, 

 Zoologica, vol. 11, No. 4, p. 74, 1930; vol. 19, No. 3, p. 90, 1935; Bull. Mus. 

 Comp. Zool., vol. 82, No. 2, p. 95, 1937. — Mertens, Senckenbergiana, 

 vol. 20, No. 5, p. 333, 1938; Publ. Inst. Cient. Domfnico-Aleman, vol. 1, 

 p. 84, 1939. — Boker, Publ. Inst. Cient. Domfnico-Aleman, vol. 1, p. 16, 1939. 



Original description. — "Diagnosis. — A medium-sized Hyla differing 

 remarkably from any other Greater Antillean species in possessing a 

 dagger-shaped prepollex visible in both sexes but enormously devel- 

 oped and with exposed point in the male; fingers two-thirds, toes 

 completely webbed; vomerine teeth in two straight series on a level 

 with the posterior border of the choanae. Coloration in preserved 

 material largely dependent on fixation; a series of transverse bars 

 of a dark color and a scattering of white specks usually present on 



