20 Records of the Indian Museum. [Vol. XV, 



base just above the upper beak ; the lower lip is divided into five lobes, 

 of which two are lateral in position and much larger than the Other 

 three, which occupy the posterior margin of the disk ; the upper 

 one-third of these lateral lobes, each of which is half as broad as the upper 

 lip, is capable of being folded backwards ; the three posterior lobes of 

 the lower lip are sub-equal, pointed below and edged with short pro- 

 cesses ; similar processes are scattered on the base of the three lobes 

 near the lower beak ; both parts of the beak are slender, the upper beak 

 relatively broader than the lower, which is a little stouter and V-shaped ; 

 both parts are minutely serrated and the upper is entirely black ; the 

 basal part of the lower beak is white. 



The tail is powerful, tapering gradually to a rather blunt point ; 

 both membranes and muscular part are well-developed, the latter about 

 twice as deep as either membrane at its base, both membranes reaching 

 the posterior extremity of the body. 



The dorsal surface of the head and body are yellow, with boldly 

 contrasting black marks, which extend on to the lateral surfaces ; the 

 ventral surface is shaded with black, the pigment being distributed in 

 minute, short hair-like lines ; the colour of the tail is similar to that of 

 the dorsal surface of the head and body. 



Measurements of a specimen in which the hind limbs are just making 

 their appearance : — 



mm. 



Total length .31 



Length of head and body . . . . . . .12-5 



Breadth of head and body ....... 7*5 



Depth of body .......... 6 



Greatest depth of tail ........ 5 



1 have examined only two specimens of this tadpole. Although 

 they are accompanied by young frogs of the species, as well as by tiose 

 of R. semipalmata and R. verrucosa, the series is by no means complete 

 and I rely for the identification rather on circumstantial evidence and 

 on the resemblance between the specimens and those of the larva of R. 

 semipalmata than on any more definite grounds. 



The specimens were obtained in a small pool at the edge of a jungle- 

 stream in the hills in September. Unfortunately no information is 

 available that would cast light on the peculiar structure of the mouth- 

 parts in this and the next species. 



Distribution. — Hills of the southern part of the Malabar zone and the 

 neighbouring districts. 



Specimens of larvae in the collection of the Indian Museum : — 



17698. Kavalai, 1300-3000 ft., Cochin State {F. H. Gravely). 



Rana semipalmata, Boulenger. 

 (Plate I, figs. 3, 3a, 3b.) 



Boulenger, op. cil., p. 454. 



This tadpole closely resembles that of R. leptodactyla, from which 

 it differs in the following particulars : — 



1. The whole animal is slighter and smaller., 



