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SALAMANDRA TALPOIDEA.— Holbrook. 



Plate XXIV. 



Characters. Head very large; body short, thick, clumsy; tail short, thick, 

 compressed; colour above dusky, almost black; beneath dusky, with a tinge of 

 purple. 



Description. The head is very large and flattened, with the snout full and 

 rounded. The mouth is large; the tongue is of sub-rhomboidal form, smallest 

 behind, where it is perfectly adherent; at all the other margins it is free. The 

 palate is armed with a transverse group of minute teeth, extending across behind 

 the posterior nares, which are large; the series is a little arched backwards in the 

 middle, where the teeth are largest and most numerous. 



The nostrils are near the snout, latero-superior, and open a little upwards and 

 backwards. The eyes are small, but prominent, with the pupil black and the iris 

 dusky. 



The neck is contracted, with a well marked cutaneous fold at the throat. The 

 body is short, thick, clumsy, rather flattened than cylindrical, and covered with a 

 smooth skin. The tail is short, very thick at its root, and compressed laterally 

 throughout its whole extent. 



The anterior extremities are short, thick, and stout, ending in four short fingers. 

 The posterior extremities are still stouter in proportion, and terminate in five 

 toes, slightly united at their roots. 



