160 MR. G. A. BOULEXGER ON THE REPTILES 



Fam. 4. DISCOGLOSSID^. 



1. DiscoGLOSsus, Otth, 1836. 



Pupil rouiidish-subtriangular. Tongue circular, entire, scarcely free behind. Vomer- 

 ine teeth in long transverse series behind the choanse. Fingers free, toes webbed. 



1. DiscoGLOSSUS PiCTTJS, Otth, 1836, 



Snout longer than the diameter of the orbit, without canthus rostralis ; tympanum 

 hidden or slightly distinct. First finger shorter than second ; three metacarpal tuber- 

 cles, the inner very much developed in the male ; toes webbed at the base in the female, 

 almost entirely in the male ; a small inner metatarsal tubercle. Skin smooth or with 

 small flat warts above. Brownish, yellowish, reddish, or olive above, with dark light- 

 edged spots, sometimes coniiuent into longitudinal bands ; some specimens with three 

 light dorsal stripes. Male 'without vocal sacs ; during the breeding-season with black 

 rugosities on the chin, the inner metacarpal tubercle, the inner digits, and on the free 

 border of the web between the toes. 



From snout to vent GO millim. 



North-African specimens have been distinguished by Camerano (Atti Ace. Torin. xiii. 

 1878, p. 548, and xiv. 1879, p. 447, figs.) under the name of 2^. scovazzi, chiefly on 

 account of their distinct tympanum ; and this distinction has been recently upheld by 

 Heron-Eoyer with the new name of I), auritus (Bull. Soc. Angers, 1889, p. 177). A 

 renewed examination of the rich series in the British Museum has convinced me that, 

 as shown by Lataste (" Etude sur le Uiscoglosse," Act. Soc. Linn. Bordeaux (4) iii. 1879, 

 p. 275), but one species of Discoglossus can be admitted. A male specimen, collected 

 at Algiers by Mr. Sclater, has the tympanum completely concealed, and, on the other 

 hand, the organ is perfectly distinct in a male collected by M. Bosca on the Serra 

 Morcna. The shape and extent of the dark temporal band are subject to much varia- 

 tion in specimens from the same locality, and I have failed to find any constancy in the 

 other very trivial distinctive characters pointed out by M. Heron-Royer. 



D. pictus abounds in the Tell, from Morocco to Tunis, and is also found in the 

 intermediate zone between the Tell and the Sahara, M. Lataste having obtained it as 

 far south as Batna. Moroccan localities are Tangier, Tetuan, Casablanca, Mogador, 

 and Morocco. Common round Tunis, and found on Galita Island by Marquis Doria. 

 Also recorded by Lataste from the Tunisian Chotts (Tozeur and Nefta). In Europe 

 I), -pictus is known from Spain and Portugal, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, and small neigh- 

 bouring islands. 



M. Lataste has observed that, as in the European Alytes, the breeding-season extends 

 irom the early spring to the end of summer. 



Excellent figures of this Batrachian accompany Lataste s memoir quoted above. 



