ART. 25 CHINESE AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES STEJNEGER 21 



1918. Rana amuremis amiirensis Nikolski, Fauna Rossij, Amph., p. 80 



(Vladivostok; Shmakovskaya, Ussuri). 

 1918. Rana amurensis ImJcunoris Nikolski, Fauna Rossij, Amph., p. 82 



( type locality, Lake Kokonor, Tibet ; cotypes, Mus. Petrograd, no. 1500 ; 



Przlievalski, collector). 



Rana amurensis was originally described by Boiilenger from 

 specimens collected in the Russian Coast province. It was after- 

 wards (1908) recorded by Bedriaga from material collected by 

 Przlievalski and Grum-Grzymailo at Kokonor. Neither of these 

 authors had seen specimens from the other's locality. 



Nikolski was able to compare specimens from both localities 

 which are more than 1,500 miles apart, and came to the conclusion 

 that those from Kokonor were distinguishable from the typical 

 Ussuri form by having the skin of the sides and belly smooth, back 

 furnished with elongate tubercles, belly unspotted, and the inner 

 metatarsal tubercle less than one-half the length of first toe. 



While thus Bedriaga and Nikolski were unable to compare speci- 

 mens from these extreme ends of the range of the species, I on the 

 other hand have only specimens from the intermediate territory. 

 Dr. Thomas Barbour, in 1909, recorded several specimens from the 

 West Tai-pai-shiang district of Northern China. This locality 

 which seems to be the same as Tei-pai-shan (also spelled Ta-pai-shan 

 or Thae-pey-chan), in the Tsinling Mountains south of Sianfu, 

 Shensi, is not far from the place 15 miles south of Sianfu, where 

 Sowerby collected two specimens (Nos. 39315-6) on February 26, 

 1909. Thanks to the courtesy of Doctor Barbour I have been able 

 to compare the two grown specimens in the Museum of Compara- 

 tive Zoology with ours and find them to agree in all essential points, 

 and I have no doubt that they all represent R. chensin^nsis 

 {= amurensis). To this form I also refer four specimens (Nos. 

 52363-6) taken by Sowerb}^ in southern Manchuria on the Yalii 

 River about 180 miles from its mouth, and five specimens, also 

 collected by liim in the Hsin-Lung-Shan district. Imperial Hunting 

 Grounds, Chilili, 65 miles northeast of Peking, during the month 

 of August, 1917. In most of these I find the skin on the sides and 

 below rather smooth, the venter immaculate and the inner metatarsal 

 tubercle rather less than one-half the inner toe, but the tubercles on 

 the back are not elongated. In some respects therefore these 

 Chinese specimens are intermediate and cast doubt upon the validity 

 of the subspecies kuku7i07is. 



The change of name of this species from R. amurensis to R. ch-en- 

 sinensis is due to the discovery of the fact that Pere David in the 

 account of his trip from Sianfu to the Tsinling Mountains described 

 this species under the latter name from some specimens caught on 



