298 nULLKTIN :!l, UXrTKD STATIvS NATIONAL MIJSKUM. 



f^jiia lianmoiidii. Vury wiili; liiteriil i:il' .l- .itliU'Iiiiieiits, whidi do imt moot till 



folllOI'il. 



Sjwa homhifroun. liolly with it free iiiodiaii baiiil ; foiiioijil liiioH liolow niidatiovo bo- 



liind. 

 Si>va muUipUcata. A (Voo dornal lino, very narrow in front, lint wido as ilia liohind; 



abdominal aroa witli a broador froo Hpace. 



SCAPIIIOPITS Ilolbrook. 



N. Amcr. Horp., ii, p. 8."); Tsdindi, Itatr., p. KJ ; Dum, A: Hibr, viii, p. 

 471; GiinlIi.,Cat., p. :!H ; Copo., Nat. Hist. Rev., 18(15, p. lOH, and 

 Jonrn. Ac. Pliila. ('i), vi, p. HI ; IJonlenyor, Cat. Batr. fJal. Brit. 

 MnM., aded., 188->, p. 43:5. 



Cavum tympani and tympanic inonibrane present; sternuiii a carti- 

 laginous plate; pupil erect; toes webbed ; internal cuneiform bone of 

 tarsus well developed. 



This genus embraces si)ecies of robust form and of burrowing liabit.-^, 

 The greater part of their lives is spent beneath the surface of tln' 

 ground, but in sjuing lliey emerge and proceed to deposit their eggs in 

 the nearest body of watei'. This is usually of a temporary character, 

 and in adaptation to this circumstance the metamorphosis is corre 

 spondingly rapid. They are very irregular as to the period of its com- 

 pletion, in dry regions losing their larval ap|)endages while very small, 

 while iu other and well-watered regions they retain them until fully 

 grown. During the season of reproduction llicy are very noi.sy, but 

 after that time disappear, and arc neither seen nor heard. They are r f' 

 jdain colors. Their general fort. is are like those of their allies of the 

 Old World, the species of Pelobates, or somewhat like that of toads. 



There are two well-marked species of this genns^ which differ as fol- 

 lows : 



a. Collections of glandular crypts on the pnst-tympa;iic and pectoral roi^ions. 



Front wide; interorbital width onterinj; length of tibia •2..') times; vomer- 

 ine teeth a little behind choanie; color dark, with or without two pale 



longitndinal stripes S. holhrookii. 



na. No glandnlar enlargements on post-tympanic or pectoral regions 



Front wide ; interorbital width entering length of tibia three times; vcnner- 

 ine teeth a little behind nares; color lignt, with a net-work of brown 

 bands S. coiivhii. 



SCAPIIIOPUS IIOLBROOKIT TIarlan. 



(Plates 57, fig. 2; G8, fig. 3; 7:5, tig. 30.) 

 Baird, Report U. S. Pac. R. R. Surv., iv, Rcptil., 1859, PI. xxvii, fig. I. 

 1 ; Cope, Proceed. Ac. Pliila., 18(J3, p. 54. 



linHd holbroohii Harlan, Med. Pliys. Researches, 1835, p. 105. 



SraphiopiiH nolilariim UoUmutU, N. Am. Herp., 1^3(1, Vol. I, \\. e5, PI. Xit, iliiii. (edit, .lit.), 



Irt4'2, IV, iu:t, PI. xxvii; 'IVlmdi, M6in. Nciichatel, i, ISis, p. fA; Dnm.A. Bibr., 



Frp. (Jen., l-^ll, VIII, 473; \,n Conte, Proceed. Ac. Nat. .Sii.Phila., 1K'>5, 4-Jit; 



(iilnth., Cat. Batr. Sul. Brit. Mns., IH.'.S, p. 3M; Boiilenger. Cat. I$atr. Sal. Brit. 



Mns., 2ded., 1HS2, p. 434. 



