ON THE PLEISTdCKNIC PBEDECESSOR OF RANA FÜSCA ßÖS. 



(With 7 textfigures.) 

 By S. J. de Bolkay Ph. D. 



A fossil frog is generally considered a rare phenomenon. The 

 forms, described by H. v. Meyer and VV. Wolterstorff are but di- 

 stantly connected to the species now existing. We have not, as yet, 

 come across remains of frogs originating from the Pleistocen of Hun- 

 gary, the fauna of which is in close connexion to that of the present 

 time. I cannot however overlook the fact of Dr. S. Roth late pro- 

 fessor at Löcse (Hungary) having found, besides other remnants a 

 few bones in a cavern near Ö-Ruzsin which were then determined by 

 Professor Nehring as Rana temporaria L. I had the opportunity of 

 seeing these remains amongst which however just the most impor- 

 tant part the pelvis is missing. It is quite natural therefore that 

 Nehring came to the logical conclusion that since the mammal remains 

 found together with the frog-bones belong without exception to the 

 foi'ms living on the Tundra's, the frog could be no other than Rana 

 temporaria L. as the one reaching the extreme north amongst all 

 europaean Batrachians. 



I was all the more agreeably surprised, when Mr. Theo. Kormos Ph. D. 

 entrusted ine with the description of the pleistocenic frog-remains 

 collected by bim near Miskolcz. This collection contains several bones, 

 in coniparatively good condition. Amongst them we find almost all the 

 components of a frog-skeleton, the skull excepted, of which only frag- 

 mentary pieces of the maxillary are left. 



The most important part of the skeleton remains in the ileum 

 on which I discovered the parlicular characters which in spite of the 

 great resemblance indace me to separate it from Rana fusca Rös. 

 {temporaria auct. non Linne). It is a pleasure to be able to call this 

 new species by the name of Prof. L. de Mehely Ph. D. who his classi- 

 cal work on «Ranae fuscae Hungariae» has acquired such very 



