COPEIA 49 



PIP A AMERICANA REDISCOVERED ON 

 TRINIDAD. 



On May 17, 1916, the Amphibian collection at 

 the Reptile House, New York Zoological Park, re- 

 ceived a specimen of Pipa americana, the Surinam 

 Toad, from Trinidad, B. W. I. It was caught in the 

 interior of the island by one of Mr. R. R. Mole's col- 

 lectors. Mr. Mole, who is well known as a herpetolo- 

 gist and collector, had for some time past made efforts 

 to procure this unique toad on Trinidad, whence he 

 had an old record of the species, but until 1910 had 

 not met with success. Two specimens were secured, 

 one was sent to the British Museum and the other 

 came to New York. When it arrived, it was among 

 the debris of the earthen vessel in which it had been 

 shipped, with some sphagum moss, inside of a wooden 

 box. During transit the pot had been smashed, and 

 it is remarkable that the toad, which is a strictly 

 aquatic creature, should have survived in an abso- 

 lutely dry state until New York was reached. Upon 

 being placed in a large aquarium planted with Sagit- 

 taria, it soon showed signs of scratches and bruises 

 which were at first not evident on the dried and much 

 wrinkled skin. The fleshy appendages at the tip of 

 the snout and at the angles of the mouth, as well as 

 the star-shaped ones on the ends of the fingers were 

 gone — they had been rubbed off in the toad's efforts 

 to escape from its too dry environment. In conse- 

 quence of its injuries and the prolonged period of 

 dryness, the toad died in a few days without having 

 made an attempt to feed. 



In a subsequent letter to the writer, Mr. Mole 

 states that he caught two more, both females with 

 young imbedded in the cells in the skin of the back. 

 Later, one specimen "hatched out" eighty young 

 ones, and the other had between fifty and sixty. Of 

 this last batch, some were far more developed than 

 others, but all still had the feathery tail. The first 

 batch was more advanced, all the "toadlets" being 



