442 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1959 
of abandoning the eggs, takes them with him, or her, as the case may 
be, and cares for them until development is advanced or even until 
transformation is complete. Furthermore, the deposition of the eggs 
in out-of-the-way places has been a successful device for getting the 
eggs away from open water. They may be deposited on land, in 
trees, or in little secluded bodies of water where they are more or 
less isolated, as in the bromeliad-breeding frogs. Correlated with 
these egg-protecting mechanisms, there may be direct development 
in which the larval stage is omitted. Since the larva of an amphib- 
ian is essentially an aquatic form, terrestrial breeding habits elim- 
inate the need for this stage in the life history. 
The following analysis, patterned after that of Gadow (1909), 
lists the major types of amphibian life histories and the families that 
have at least some representatives exhibiting such modifications. 
I. Eggs small, the larvae hatching in a comparatively early state of 
development. 
A. Eggs laid in water. 
1. Eggs laid in open ponds and streams: some representatives in all 
the families of salamanders except the Amphiumidae and the Pletho- 
dontidae and in all the families of anurans except the Centrolenidae, 
Dendrobatidae, and Rhinodermatidae. 
2. Eggs laid in underwater crevices and crannies (Plethodontidae) ; in 
specially walled-off parts of the pond (Hylidae) ; in basins of water 
collected in bromeliads, bananas, bamboo, ete. (Hylidae and Micro- 
hylidae) ; or in foamy masses (Leptodactylidae). 
B. Eggs deposited out of water. 
1. In holes, under logs, rocks, or debris, from which the larvae must 
make their way to the water, sometimes aided by heavy rains: 
Ambystomatidae, Amphiumidae, Plethodontidae, Leptodactylidae, 
Ranidae, and Rhacophoridae. 
2. On leaves (or sphagnum) above the water. The larvae on hatching, 
drop into the water below: Plethodontidae, Centrolenidae, Hylidae, 
and Rhacophoridae. 
II. Eggs relatively large and the young at least initiating metamorphosis while 
in the egg. 
A. Eggs deposited in damp situations and perhaps guarded but never 
earried about by either parent. 
1. The young hatching as larvae: Caecilidae, Plethodontidae, Lepto- 
dactylidae, Hylidae, Ranidae, Rhacophoridae, and Microhylidae. 
2. The young hatching as miniature replicas of the adults: Leptodac- 
tylidae, Leiopelmidae, Rhinodermatidae, Ranidae, Phacophoridae, 
and Microhylidae. 
B. Eggs and/or larvae carried about by a parent. 
1. By the male. 
a. Wrapped around the legs: Discoglossidae. 
b. In the vocal sacs: Rhinodermatidae. 
ec. On the back: Pelobatidae, Dendrobatidae, Ranidae. 
2. By the female. 
a. Buried in the skin of the back: Pipidae. 
b. In a pouch or free on the back: Hylidae. 
