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lUJLLHTIX :!l, L'MIEIJ STATHS NATIONAL MfSKlM. 



PELODVTIDJ'L* 



Vertebra' proooilous ; no libs or diiipoitliysos of coccyx. Sacrum 

 united witli tlie coccyx by condyle, its diajujpiiyses dilated. 



The species of tliis family are of weak organization; the fronto 

 l)ariet€al bones are undeveloped in one of the four genera embra(!ed iiy 

 it, and they are very weak in the others. Their atlinities are altogetli' r 

 between the Asterophiydida-, and Scai)liioi)odida'. Their vertebra' only 

 distinguish them from the former and their distinct bicondyloid coccyx 

 from the latter. In the known genera tiie auditory apparatus is dev«'l 

 oped, and the cephalic integument is tree; in noiu! is there a metatar- 

 sal shovel. 



a. Sfcrimiii with an osseous stylo. 



\() (liMitary aiiopliysis : no vomciiiic torlli; tonji;n(i broad, liiil littlo frt'c ; tyin- 



paiiiiiii distinct ; one postsacral condyle W-iiophrns. 



Frontoparietal bones complete; no vomerine teetli : one (.aeral condyle for nro- 



style; tonj^ue partially free /.rplohrdildinii, 



Frontoparietal bones enibraein;; a lar;;(' Ibntanelle ; vomerine teetli: twosnerai 

 condyles f'ortlic coccyx ; a weak parotoid inland ; pnidl elliptic, erect : tongue 



partially IVee ; atlas and ••sis coiilliient I'cloiljilis. 



na. Sternnin without osseous style. 



Frontoparietal bones complete ; vomerine tt'ctli ; two postsacral . ondyles. 



Iliilnichojisin. 



In the species of Leptobrachium and Pelodytes tlie external meta 

 tarsi are bound together ; in the only known spei:ies of P.atrachopsis 

 they are, according to IJoulenger, slightly separated. 



This family lias a pectdiar distribution. Pelodytes i.s European, 

 Xenophrys and Leptobrachium are i'aheotropical, Jind Ijalrachopsis, 

 Australian (New Guinea). 



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scArnropiDJ-: 



Cope, Journ. Ac. Phila., 18ti(i, ]>. CO; Nat. Hist. K'ev., l-Ti,', p. 11, pars. 



Pchhal\(hv Lalaste, Actes Soc. Linn., liordeanx, XNX, :iHll, pars; I5onlen^er Catal. 

 Batr. Sal. IJrit. Mus. Fd. ii, ISS-J, p. X.Vi, pars. 



Vertebra' proco'lian ; no costal elements or coccygeal diai)opliyses; 

 diapophyses of ninth vertebra much dilated, thin, and triangular; nro 

 style without condyloid articidation, its axial portion rcstiicting that 

 of the sacrum and connate with it: external metatarsi bound; distal 

 phalanges continuous, simple. Manubrium cartilaginous. Tongue 

 rounded, nearly entire. 



The small number of species embraced in this family are of stout 

 toad-like habit, and furnished with a sli jvel-like develojinient of the 

 cuneiform bone and a coriaceous posterior digital palmation, \o aid 

 them in removing earth while making their subteiranean abodes. 

 Many of them very seldom come to the surface of the earth, and then 

 only in darkness; for this lialtit the vertical (iatlike pupil is an adapta 

 tioii, a peculiarity not exhibited by the toads, which are crepuscular. 



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