214 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



vertebra are not dilated. Arboreal, aquatic, terrestrial, 

 and burrowing forms are all represented. 



The most interesting members of the family are those 

 belonging to the genus Ceratophrys, burrowing toads 

 inhabiting the greater part of South America. The 

 upper eyelid of these creatures is frequently produced 

 into a horn-like appendage. Some species have a bony 

 dorsal shield hidden under the skin, and quite free from 

 the underlying vertebrae, whilst in a little toad of the 

 family Engystomatidce, Brachycephalus ephippium, in which 

 a similar bony shield is present, it is fused with the vertebral 

 column. The head is very large ; the pupil is horizontal. 

 The tympanum is distinct in some species, hidden in 

 others. The fingers are free, and the toes more or less 

 webbed ; the tips are not dilated. 



The Ornamented Ceratophrys, C. ornata, of Southern 

 Brazil and the Argentine, is the most beautiful of the ten 

 species, and well deserves its specific name. The upper 

 surfaces, which are very tubercular, are bright green, with 

 large reddish-brown, black-edged markings ; the jaws are 

 of a bright yellow. The upper eyelid is raised and pointed, 

 and triangular in shape, without forming a regular horn. 

 The lower surface of the foot is, as in most burrowing 

 toads, equipped with large shovel-shaped, bony tubercles, 

 which are covered with a horny sheath, with cutting edge. 



This toad spends the greater part of its existence below 

 the surface, or half underground, the upper parts being 

 sometimes merely sprinkled with loose earth which the 

 animal manages to throw upon its back with its feet, being 

 thus practically invisible. When excited or alarmed it 

 will utter startling cries, not unlike those of an infant, 

 and will at the same time open its mouth widely in a very 



