16 



region, scattered densely with dark spots; internal part of forelimb and dorsal part of 

 fingers bear very distinct dark spots; dorsal hindlimb brownish gray, bears 3-A dark 

 brown transverse stripes; color on dorsal part of limbs are dark, and gradually changes 

 to a lighter color ventrally, ventral parts of metacarpals and metatarsals grayish black, 

 color on ventral part of fingers and toes tips are light. 



Characters of skull: Based on skulls of three male specimens No. 873063, 

 873065 and 873071 and one female specimen No. 873068, premaxilla almost vertical, 

 alary process of premaxilla slightly inclined forward; anterior part of ethmoid 

 cartiliage narrow and sharp; right and left nasals in contact at the mid-line, nasal and 

 sphenethmoid overlap, not in contact with frontoparietal, sphenethmoid enters orbit 

 on dorsal part; squamosal not m contact with frontoparietal, prootic enters orbit 

 dorsally. 



Ecological data: This frog lives in the mountain areas in coniferous and 

 broad-leaf mixed forests at elevations of 1900-2 100m. They occur in slowly flowing 

 streams with bushes and grass growing on both sides of the banks. The water is very 

 clear and there are many rocks in the water. This frog makes a continuous "xia, xia, 



xia, " soimd in the afternoon and evening in March and April, making more sounds 



in the evening. It is very easy to collect them in the evening. In a female collected 

 during the end of March, mature eggs in the belly had entered the fallopian tubes, and 

 the eggs appear milky-yellow in color. The diameter of the eggs is about 2.3mm, with 

 a total 954 eggs (left side 465, right side 489). Females collected in the early May do 

 not have mature eggs in their beUies. Based on the gravid females collected, this 

 species of frog may have its breeding season in April. 



Figure 1. Foot characteristics of three similar species of Megophrys (ventral view) 

 1. M glandulosa Cf 2. M mangshanensis <S. 3.M. lateralis Cf (Copied from Liu and 



Hu, 1961). 



