87 
RANA FONTINALIS.— Leconte. 
Plate XXI. 
Cuaracters. Body above green, with dusky spots behind; throat and abdomen 
yellow; posterior extremities dark green, with transverse dusky bars; a cutaneous 
fold, elevated into a ridge, from the orbit to the posterior extremities. 
Synonymes. Rana fontinalis, Zeconte, Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y., vol. i. p. 282. 
Rana flavaviridis, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 103. 
Description. The head is short, but rather pointed; the nostrils are lateral, 
and nearly midway between the eyes and the snout. The eyes are very large 
and prominent; the pupil is dark, with a golden iris, beautifully reticulated with 
black, and having an inner circle of bright yellow. The tympanum is very large, 
bronzed, with a lighter spot near its centre. The mouth is large, with two groups 
of small palatine teeth. The head above is bright green; the upper jaw is green, 
the lower yellowish-white, with a few dusky marks. The throat is bright yellow. 
The body is elongated, but full and large, with a cutaneous fold elevated into a 
ridge on each side, extending from the orbit to near the thighs. The anterior 
half of the body is light green; the posterior very dark green, sometimes with a 
tinge of olive, and is always marked with dusky spots, varying in size and dispo- 
sition. The animal is sometimes seen more dusky than the one figured in this 
work, but only in cold weather—the colours I have observed most brilliant when 
the weather is hottest. The inferior part of the flanks is yellowish-white, mottled 
with black spots. The anterior half of the abdomen is bright yellow; the 
posterior half yellowish-white. 
