1920.] G. A. B0UU5NGER : Fro^s of the Genus Rana. 33 



Nasal bones large, in contact with each other, narrowly separ- 

 ated from the frontoparietals, only a small portion of the ethmoid 

 remaining uncovered ; frontoparietals narrow, flat ; zygomatic pro- 

 cess of squamosal moderately long. Omosternum forked at the 

 base. Terminal phalanges obtusely pointed. 



Tadpole with the tail attenuate to a rather obtuse point, 

 about twice as long as the body. Beak white, edged with black; 

 a long marginal series of upper labial teeth with a short series on 

 each side ; 3 long uninterrupted series of lower labial teeth, outer 

 shortest ; lower lip with two series of long papillae. 



[Individuals from comparatively high altitudes in the Hima- 

 layas, Burma and the Western Ghats are usually small and at 

 some spots in the Himalayas {e.g. Sitong Ridge in the Darjiling 

 District) are of a pecu'iar grey colour with rounded dorsal warts. 

 No definite structural differences, however, can be found to 

 separate most of these mountain forms, except that in the race 

 peculiar to the Western Ghats in Bombay the first and second 

 fingers are usually almost equal or subequal in length. For this 

 Bomby race I have recently proposed the varietal name syhadrensis 

 (see Rec. Ind. Mus. XVI, p. 123; 1919). The Nilgiri race {nila- 

 girica, Jerdon) is not dwarfed. 



Rana limnochayis is, after R. cyanophlyctis, the commonest and 

 most universally distributed of the Indian frogs. It frequents the 

 edge of ponds and marshes and leaps into the water when disturbed, 

 as a rule rapidly swimming ashore again. It cannot skip on the 

 surface as R. cyanophlyctis does. In mountainous districts it under- 

 goes a prolonged period of hibernation, during which it conceals itself . 

 Individuals which have fallen into wells and been unable to escape 

 or have been placed there in order to eat insect larvae (as I believe 

 is a custom in some parts of India) float on the surface in cold 

 weather in a semi-torpid condition. — N. A.'\. 



Habitat. Eastern Asia, from Japan and China to India, Cey- 

 lon and the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago, eastward to the 

 Philippines, Borneo and Lombok. Recorded from up to 7000 

 ft. in Sikkim. 



I have placed the recently described R. ivasl, Annand., from 

 N. Borneo, the Nicobars, Burma, the Khasi Hills, and the extreme 

 east of the Himalayan foothills, simply in the synonymy of 

 R. limnochayis , as the short description does not give a single char- 

 acter to justify a separation, and the figure agrees perfectly well 

 with an average specimen of the typical form. Dr. Annandale has 

 favoured me with the loan of one of the type specimens, from Kuch- 

 ing, Sarawak. 



Var. nilagirica, Jerdon. 



Differs from the typical form in the longer hind limbs, the 

 tibio-tarsal articulation reaching the tip of the snout. As how- 

 ever the specimens referred to R. nilagirica resemble very closely 

 others, likewise from the Nilgiries, in which the limbs are not longer 

 than in the typical form, and as Dr. Annandale has observed an 



