ig2o.] G. A. BoiTi.UNGER : Froi^s of the Genus Raiia. 163 



lateral fold from above the tympanum to the hip, its distance from 

 its fellow, on the back, 5 to 6 times in the length of head and body, 

 lyovver parts smooth, posterior part of thighs granulate. 



Greyish or reddish brown above, uniform or spotted with 

 darker'; sides of head dark brown or black, which shade may be 

 prolonged on the sides of the body below the lateral folds ; a white 

 streak on the upper lip; limbs with dark cross-bands. White 

 beneath, uniform or s]3otted with brown, throat and breast brown 

 in the males. 



Males with internal vocal sacs; fore limb strong, with aflat 

 oval gland on the inner side of the arm and a moderately strong 

 pad on the inner side of the first finger. 



Nasal bones narrow, oblique, widely separated from each 

 other and from the frontoparietals ; ethmoid largely exposed above, 

 extending to between the nasals. 



Tadpoles from Tenasserim, received under the name of li. nico- 

 hariensis from the Indian Museum, have the tail obtusely pointed 

 and i| to if times as long as the body, and bear black dots and 

 light-edged black ocellar spots ; the beak is narrowly edged with 

 black and there are 6 or 7 upper and as many lower series of 

 labial teeth, the 2 or 3 outer upper and all but the inner lower 

 uninterrupted. 



Eggs measure r-j- raillim. in diameter in a female 42 millim. 

 long from snout to vent. 



Habitat. Nicobars, Tenasserim, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra 

 and neighbouring islands, Borneo, Mentavei, and Java. 



The web between the toes varies in extent, sometimes reach- 

 ing the discs of the third and fifth, sometimes not extending be- 

 yond the basal phalanx ; but these two extremes are connected 

 by every degree. 



Rana nicohariensis and R. varians^ Blgr., are two closelj^ allied 

 species, which may be distinguished as follows: — 



R. nicobaricnsis. — Nostril considerably nearer the tip of the 

 snout than the eye ; tibio-tarsal articulation reaching the nostril 

 or the tip of the snout; toes | to f webbed, 2 phalanges of third 

 and fifth free ; male with a fiat gland on the inner side of the arm. 



R. varians. — Nostril equally distant from the eye and the tip 

 of the snout, or a little nearer the latter; tibio-tarsal articulation 

 reaching beyond the tip of the snout ; web reaching the discs of 

 the third and fifth toes ; male without humeral gland. 



In 1891 (Ann. and Mag. N.H. VIII, p 2gi) I identified R. 

 niaculana,var. javanica, Horst,with R. nicobariensis,h\.\tho\h van 

 Karapen (in M. Weber, Zool. Ergebn. Reis. Nied. O.-Ind. IV, p. 392) 

 and Annaudale (Journ. Fed. Mai. Si. Miis. VII, 1917, P- 108) have 

 demurred to this identification and regard the Java frog as a distinct 

 species, R. javanica, which is stated to differ in the nostril being 

 only a little nearer the tip of the snout than the eye, in the 

 broader interorbital region {i^ times the width of the upper 



' .Xnnand.ilc inentiniTs a specimen from Java with a faint light vertebral luie. 



