438 



Genus RANA, 



Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 354 (part.), 1700. 



Pupil horizontal. Tongue free and deeply notched or bifid be- 

 hind. Vomerine teeth. Tympanum usually distinct, sometimes 

 hidden. Fingers free ; toes webbed, with simple or dilated tips. 

 Outer rnetatarsals separated by web. Omosternum and sternum 

 with a bony style. 



Fig. 130. Open mouth of Rana macrodon. 



Distribution. Cosmopolitan, except in the southern parts of South 

 America, in Australia and New Zealand. Some 140 species are 

 known, 41 of which occur within the limits of this fauna. All 

 Indian species are probably aquatic during the breeding-season ; 

 otherwise their habits vary greatly according to the species, which 

 may be aquatic, terrestrial, burrowing, or to a certain extent* 

 arboreal. Burrowing habits are indicated by the great develop- 

 ment of the inner metatarsal tubercle, which is sharp-edged, and 

 acts as a shovel, as in R. breviceps; this character is accompanied 

 by an abbreviation of the hind limbs, which gives the frog a toad- 

 like appearance. Arboreal habits are usually to be recognized by 

 the distal enlargement of the digits, although some strictly aquatic 

 forms, such as R. kulilii, have the toes ending in small, but very 

 distinct disks. 



I have failed to recognize the following species, the descriptions 

 of which are insufficient : 



1. Rana sanguineo-maculata, Lesson, in Bclang. Voy. Ind. Or., 



Zool. p. 328, pi. v. fig. 2. Bengal. 



2. Rana newera-ellia, Kelaart, Prodr. Faun. Zeyl. p. 192. 



Ceylon. 



3. Limnodytes mutabilis, Kelaart, op. cit. ii, p. 19. Colombo. 



4. Limnodytes maculata, Kelaart, 1. c. Galle, Ceylon. 



5. Limnodytes Uvidus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. sxiii, 1854, p. 299. 



Colombo, Ceylon. 



6. Limnodytes niyrovittatus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxiv, 1855, p. 718. 



Tenasserim. 



7. Rana alttlabrit, Blyth, ibid, p. 720. Pegu. 



