THE AMPHIBIANS OF MICHIGAN. 



BY CRYSTAL THOMTSON AND HELEN THOMPSON. 



INTRODUCTION. 



One of the greatest difipiciilties encountered by the general student 

 when he attempts the study of Michigan amphibians is the lack of 

 a general work on the subject. Many papers have been published, 

 but these are principally local lists and are so widely scattered that 

 they are not generally available. The general books on the group 

 are quite adequate for the determination of species, but they do 

 not, as a rule, give the correct distribution of the forms in the 

 state, so that, aside from the disadvantage of having to deal with 

 many more forms in the keys than we have within our limits, the 

 further objection to their use is that one can scarcely tell from 

 them what species to expect in any region. 



It is the purpose of this paper to present in a concise and con- 

 venient form the present knowledge of the amphibian fauna of 

 Michigan. The work is necessarily far from complete because of the 

 lack of data from many parts of the state, but it is hoped that it 

 will prove of assistance to students. It should also serve to arouse 

 an interest in this group of vertebrates that will result in the ac- 

 cumulation of data on the intrastate distribution of the species, 

 particularly as an effort has been made to show just how much in- 

 formation is at hand for each section. 



LITERATURE. 



The published papers that deal either entirely with Michigan 

 amphibians, or that include definite records for Michigan are as 

 follows : 



1. Sager, Abram. Report to the State Geologist. Senate Doc, 

 State of Michigan, 1839, 294-305. Includes a catalogue of the am- 

 phibians of the state. The following sjrecies are listed : Bufo 

 musicus [americaniis) , Eyta versicolor, Rana clamitans, Rana 

 halecina {pipiens), Rana palustris, Rana sylvatica, Rana grijllus 

 [Acris grylhis) , Salamandra symetrica (Diemictylus viridescens) , 



