60 John Hemii 



Notes on Some South African Tadpoles. 

 By John Hewitt. 



That the fauna of South Africa is exceedingly rich and varied 

 is a well-known fact. Collectors of butterflies tell us that only 

 55 species are to be obtained in England, of which some are 

 very rare, and that only 16 species occur in the Islands of 

 New Zealand, whereas without great difficulty about 100 

 species can be obtained in the inunediate neighbourhood of 

 Grahamstovs^. And, so it is with many other groups of animals. 



Yet, having regard to the amount of arid or semi-desert 

 country in South Africa, few biologists would have expected to 

 find so large a fauna of frogs and toads as occurs in this sub 

 continent. In the whole of Europe only 20 species are known, 

 whereas at least 50 species occur in S. Africa, and still a few 

 await discovery. One of our toads, the common Plathander, 

 {Xcnopus laevis) has been described from its egg stage upward 

 by various authorities, but apart from a few notes by the present 

 writer and J. H. Power, practically nothing has been written 

 on the breeding habits and early stages of the other S. African 

 species. Here is an untouched field for the naturalist observer. 



Although these animals are essentially amphibious, and gener- 

 ally quite dependent at one stage of their life on freshwater 

 pools or streams, some of our toads are sufficiently acclimatised 

 to thrive in the midst of very arid districts. Dr. Brown tells me 

 that a kind of Breviceps (popularly called Blas-op Jan Blom or 

 Donderpadde) occurs at Port Nolloth where no surface water can 

 be found within 50 miles. The toads of this genus with 

 tensely swollen bodies and abbreviated limbs are known from 

 various parts of South Africa, but never, so far as I can ascertain, 

 from pools or rivers, nor from the neighbourhood thereof. They 

 positively abhor water, and it now seems to me very probable thai 

 Breviceps will prove to be quite independent thereof, and de- 



