The American Discoglossoid Toad 



This curious little batrachian (a member of the Discoglossidae, 

 (see p. 8) is the lowest known form of the Salientia in North 

 America. In fact, no other Discoglossoid toad has been found 

 in the Western Hemisphere, and the discovery of this one in 

 1897 marks one of the most important steps in the history of the 

 Batrachology of North America. 



Although having the form of the Tailless Batrachian, and 

 many of its structural characteristics, such as parotoid glands 

 and a tongue free behind, it has a skeleton showing the funda- 

 mental features in a primitive condition, as in the Tailed Batrach- 

 ians or Salamanders. It thus supplies an important item in the 

 story of the evolution of the Salientia. (See p. 14.) 



The geographical distribution of the Discoglossoid toads has 

 been most interestingly worked out by Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, 

 of the National Museum.^ He makes the region southeast of the 

 Himalayas, in Asia, the original home of the family. From here 

 they radiated to New Zealand, in early Cretaceous times, to west- 

 ern America (over the land bridge that existed between Asia and 

 North America) in upper Cretaceous times, and to western Eu- 

 rope in early Tertiary times. Curiously enough, although at 

 the moment of publication of his theory no Discoglossoid toad 

 had ever been found in the region indicated as the centre of ra- 

 diation, a new species ^ was announced from there one month 

 later by Boulenger. 



' igo5. A Rdsum^ of the Geographical Distribution of the Discoglossoid Toads, in the Light 

 of Ancient Land Connections. Leonhard Stejneger. American Geographical Society, vol xxxvii, No. 

 2, pp. gi-94- 



Oct. 20, 1905. Science, p. 502. The Geographical Distribution of the Bell-Toads. Leonhard 

 Stejneger. 



2 Bombina maxima Boulenger. Tong Chuan Fu, province of Yunnan. 



52 



