1896.] BAXEACHIANS FBOM THB CAUCASUS. 553 



It; will be seen that the new Frog agrees with its Western con- 

 gener in the large frontoparietal fontanelle ; the absence of pala- 

 tine bones ; the very strongly dilated transverse processes of the 

 sacral vertebra and the forward direction of the three anterior to 

 them ; the curved coracoids and precoracoids ; the bony style to 

 the sternum ; the fusion of the two outer bones of the second row 

 in the carpus ; and especially in the fusion of the astragalus and 

 calcaneum to a single bone, resembling the fused radius and ulna 

 or tibia and fibula of tailless Batrachians. 



[Since the reading of my paper, I have received, July 24th, 

 through the courtesy of the author, M. Nikolski, a copy of the 

 description of a new Pelobatoid, named Pelodytopsis caucasica. 

 The genus and species are established on two female specimens 

 from Lagodekhi, Transcaucasia, obtained by M. Mlokossewicz, 

 apparently the same collector who first discovered Salamandra 

 caucasica. This Frog is no doubt the same as my Pelodytes cauca- 

 sicus, which has priority, M. Nikolski's paper being signed June 

 1896. There is no foundation for the now genus, the species 

 being, as I have stated above, very closely related to Pelodytes 

 j)unctatus.2 



Salamanuka caucasica. (Plate XXII. fig. 1.) 



Etcaeretus coMcosJcrts, Waga,E;ev. et Mag. Zool. 1876,p. 326, pi. svi. 



Salamandra caucasica, Bouleng. Cat. Batr. Caud. p. 5 (1882); 

 Boettg. Ber. Senck. Ges. 1892, p. 132. 



Thanks to Dr. Eadde, the British Museum now possesses a good 

 series of specimens of this rare Salamander, from Mount Lomis, 

 7000 feet, from which the following description is drawn up. 



The series of palatine teeth extend forwards f^r beyond the 

 choanae ; they converge and are narro\vlj separated from each 

 other in front, after being angularly bent and enclosing a rhom- 

 boidal space ; in the middle the series are closely approximate and 

 parallel ; behind they strongly diverge again ; in some specimens 

 the angular bend does not exist and each series may be described 

 as S-shaped. 



The tongue is large, covering nearly the whole floor of the 

 mouth, free at the sides only. 



The head is much depressed, and the eyes moderately large and 

 prominent ; the snout is semicircular in outline f^nd does not 

 project beyond the lower javp. The parotoid glands are flat, not 

 sharply limited as in the other species of the genus. A strong 

 gular fold is present. 



The body is much elongate and feebly depressed, with 12 strong 

 costal grooves between axilla and groin ; the sldn is quite smooth 

 and shiny, without any warts. 



The limbs meet or slightly overlap when pressed against the 

 body. The digits are moderately elongate and depressed ; the first 

 toe is the shortest, the fourth the longest, slightly longer than the 

 third, the fourth and fifth are equal. The tail is subcylindrical, 

 slightly compressed, and longer than head and body. 



Peoc. Zool. See— 1896, No. XXXVI. 36 



