AMPHIBIA. 177 



claims to be regarded as a true Urodelan. Its skin seems 

 to have been naked ; the head is larger than that of Sala- 

 mandra, and the tail relatively much shorter ; the orbits 

 being very large, the ribs short, and the limbs short and tet- 

 radactylous. M. Gaudry suggests, further, that the Apatcon 

 terrestris and Felion {Raniceps) Lyelli of the Carboniferous 

 may turn out to be Urodelans allied to Protriton. 



With the above exceptions, if they really be such, the 

 order Urodela has not hitherto been shown to have existed 

 in times anterior to the Tertiary. In strata of this age 

 have been discovered the remains of Salamandroids in all 

 fundamental respects resembling the now existing types. 

 The most remarkable of these is the Andrias Scheudizeri (fig. 

 538) of the Miocene beds of Oeningen. This singular fossil 

 was described by its original discoverer as human, under the 

 name of Homo diluvii tesi^is ; but it is really the skeleton of 

 a Salamandroid of large size. It is very closely allied to 

 the Giant-salamander {Menopoma, or Sieboldia, maxima) of 

 Java. 



Oeder II. Anouea ( = BatracMa, Huxley ; Theriomorpha, 

 Owen ; Chelonohatrachia, &c.) — This order includes the Frogs 

 and Toads, and is perhaps best designated by the name of 

 Anoura, or " Tail-less " Amphibians. The name BatracMa, 

 employed by Huxley, is inexpedient, partly because it is 

 used by Owen to designate the entire class Amphibia, and 

 partly because, in common language, it is usual to under- 

 stand by a " Batrachian " any of the higher Amphibians ; 

 such, for instance, as a Labyrinthodont. 



The Anoura, or Tail-less Amphibians, are characterised by 

 the following points : The adult is destitute of both gills and 

 tail, both of which structures exist in the larva, whilst the 

 two pairs of limbs are always present. The skin is soft, and 

 there are rarely any traces of an exoskeleton. Tlie dorsal 

 vertebrse are " procoelous " or concave in front, and are fur- 

 nished with long transverse processes, which take the place 

 of ribs, which are only present in a rudimentary form. The 

 radius and ulna in the fore-limb, and the tibia and fibula in 

 the hind-limb, are anchylosed to form single bones (fig. 539). 

 The mouth is sometimes edentulous, but the upper jaw has 



VOL. II. M 



