254 



OBSEEVATIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 



NON- AQUATIC TADPOLE OF ANHYDROPHRYNE 



RATTRAY I HEWITT 



BY 



Ernest Warren, D.Sc. (Lond.), 

 Director of the Natal Museum, Pietermaritii-hurg. 



With Plates II and III. 



Read Jahi 11, 192'2. 



Some years ago Dr. G. Eatti^^y discovered the nests of a 

 small frog, buried just below the surface of the ground in the 

 moist forest and marsh-land of the Hogsback, Amatola Kange. 

 He observed that the tadpoles had no gills and drowned if placed 

 in water. Some material was collected by Dr. Rattray and 

 was sent to Mr. John Hewitt, Director of the Albany Museum, 

 Grahamstown. In the " Records of the Albany Museum," Vol. 

 III. Pt. 13, 1919, Mr. Hewitt pubhshed an account of the matter 

 and also gave a description of the adult frog, referring it to a 

 new genus and species. 



The preserved eggs and embryos were kindly placed at my 

 disposal by Mr. Hewitt, and subsequently Dr. Rattray was so 

 good as to procure further material, since some important stages 

 were absent from the first series. 



The adult exhibits certain anatomical peculiarities, and the 

 exact systematic position of the genus is somewhat obscure. In 

 sending the material to me Mr. Hewitt remarked that a study of 

 the embryology might throw some light on the affinities of the 

 genus, but that in any case the mode of development of a non- 

 aquatic tadpole should prove of interest. 



The material which I have received is well preserved (strong 

 formalin and Garnoy were employed), but it is deficient in the 

 earlier stages. A series of preparations has been made, and some 

 facts have been ascertained, but full details have not yet been 

 worked out. In the present place reference will be made only to 

 some of the broader features of the development. 



In 1904 Miss Lilian V. Sampson published in " The American 

 Joiu-nal of Anatomy," Vol. Ill, No. 4, 1904, a detailed study 

 on the terrestrial development of the West Indian tree-frog 

 Hylodes martinicensis (Bibr.) and, as far as I am aware, this 

 is the only detailed paper that has appeared on the subject. 



