34 U- S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 06 



large warts bordering the middorsal area; ventral region buff, with 

 very faint gray spots evenly distributed over breast, belly and lower 

 surfaces of limbs, the buff tone extending well up on the sides (where 

 it is mottled with the dorsal color), edging the lower border of the 

 parotoids, and extending nearly to the upper surface of the limbs; 

 posterior femur slightly mottled with pale sepia over the buff color; 

 all the warts and granules with black or clove-brown centers; parotoid 

 and femoral glands dark sepia; tips of fingers and toes, and subarticular, 

 metacarpal, and metatarsal tubercles clove brown; tarsal ridge and 

 upper lip border also edged with this color; throat walnut brown, 

 immaculate. 



Variations. — Another cotype, USNM 97239, a female measuring 

 180 mm,, agrees well with the male in structural features, except that 

 the tibial glands are less swollen and the parietal crests are somewhat 

 better developed. The black pigmentation is entirely lacking on the 

 tips of the digits and on the tubercles of hands and feet, while the skin 

 is much less rough and the small black spines are lacking, these being 

 evidently sexual developments. The dorsum is mottled with large 

 irregular dull brown spots on a drab ground. The throat, chest, and 

 belly are cream buff, with only the faintest indications of gray spots, 

 but posteriorly, especially on the legs, these spots become darker and 

 much closer together. As in USNM 97238, the scapular ridges are 

 pronounced and the parotoids taper to a blunt point posteriorly. 



In 58 specimens variation in the length of the parotoid gland was 

 found to range from 20 to 33 percent of the total length, averaging 

 25 percent. In about three-fourths of the individuals a more or less 

 regular row of enlarged warts continued down the sides from the 

 posterior ends of the always tapering glands; in the remainder of the 

 specimens such rows were lacking or appeared partially on one side 

 only. Distinct scapular ridges were found in nearly all the specimens, 

 being lacking in but four. The tibial gland was large and weU devel- 

 oped in both sexes, failing to appear only twice in the entire series 

 at hand. The dorsum was often without any pattern in adult males, 

 but usually in females there was a dark scapular spot and a few other 

 smaller ones along each side of the back. The venter was usually 

 spotted, although sometimes very pale, while in only one case was a 

 reticulated pattern found. 



Remarks. — This giant toad, common in Minas Gerais, Bahia, and 

 Pernambuco, occupies the territory between Bufo marinus in the 

 north and B. ictericus in the southeast, whUe both B. ictericus and B. 

 paracnemis occur without intergrades in Rio de Janeiro and Sao 

 Paulo, proving the correctness of their being considered distinct 

 species. In the Gran Chaco region to the southwest, paracnemis is 



