Species of Frogs. 19 



t 



• 



* 



Bufo punctatusj Bd. & Grir. 



Bufo punctatus , Baird and Girard, Proc. Ac. Philad. 1852, p. 173, and 

 U.-S. Mex. Bound. Surv. ii. p. 25, pi. xxxix. figs. 5-7. 



Of this very remarkable toad I have examined two speci- 

 mens, from which I draw up the following diagnosis. One 

 was kindly sent to me for examination by 31. Lataste, who 

 had received it under the correct name from Dr. Gamier, the 

 same gentleman who sent him the above-mentioned specimens 

 of Rana septentrional is ; it came from Texas. The other, 

 from La Paz, California, has been received by the British 

 Museum from the Smithsonian Institution under the name 

 Bufo Beldingii) Yarrow (a name which does not appear to 

 have been published) . The descriptions of Baird and Girard, 

 though incomplete, are sufficient to leave me no doubt as to 

 the correctness of my identification. Dr. Yarrow, in Wheeler's 

 ' Report/ Zool. p. 523, observes that "the figure of this species 

 in the ' United-States and 3Iexican Boundary Survey/ un- 

 like that of the other toads, is very defective, not representing 

 the most marked characters well, and adding two pairs of 

 dorsal glands which do not exist.' 7 



Head triangular, with very low bony ridges, viz. a canthal, 

 a preorbital, a supraorbital, and a postorbital, the latter forming 

 a right angle ; derm of upper surface of head more or less in- 

 volved in cranial ossification ; snout short, prominent ; inter- 

 orbital space concave, broader than the upper eyelid, equalling 

 the diameter of the orbit j tympanum round, perfectly distinct, 

 half the diameter of the eye. First finger a little longer than 

 second j toes one-third webbed ; subarticular tubercles simple ; 

 two moderate metatarsal tubercles ; a slight tarsal fold. The 

 hind limb being carried forwards along the body, the tarso- 

 metatarsal articulation reaches the eye. Upper surfaces with 

 small round tubercles ; paratoid3 small, prominent, roundish 

 or subtriangular. The specimen communicated to me by 

 31. Lataste is uniform greyish olive j that obtained from the 

 Smithsonian Institution is yellowish olive above, the sides 

 and limbs blotched with blackish, the tubercles being slightly 

 reddish ; lower surfaces dirty white, immaculate. Both speci- 

 mens examined are females. From snout to vent 57 inillim. 



The place of this species in the system seems to be near 

 Bufo granulosus. 



2* 



