BATRACHIA. 



339 



with yellow longitudinal stripes. Scytopis' aurantiacus is gamboge yellow. JBypsi- 

 boas punctatus is spotted with pink. Hyla marmorata is painted like a harlequin in 

 gray, black, and yellow. The species of Phyllomedusa are often of the finest colors. 

 The P. bicolor is green above and pale purple below, with white purple-edged spots 

 on the sides. In the P. tomoptemus these spots are replaced by purple cross-bands. 

 In the Agalychnis caUidryas the colors are green and blue above, and gamboge-yellow 

 below, with vertical bands of citron yellow on the sides. In the rough-headed forms 

 the colors are plainer. The species of Triprion live among rocks, and their colors 

 are inconspicuous. 



The typical genus of the Amphign^athodontiDjE, AmpMgnatliodon, is very peculiar. 

 It resembles the Hylidse in form, and is arboreal in habits. It has a dorsal pouch, 

 which is, no doubt, used, like that of the genus Nbtotrema, as a receptacle for eggs. 

 The only species, the A. guentheri inhabits the same region, i. e., the tropical Andes. 



The Hemipheactid^ include some forms in which the cranial ossification is remark- 

 ably developed. This forms a kind of helmet, which develops in some of the species 

 {Ceratohyla bubahts, for instance), into processes and crests. In Amphodus there 

 are, besides mandibular teeth, teeth on the parasphenoid bone, the only instance of 

 this structure known in the Anura, outside of the genus Triprion. Its toes have ter- 

 minal dilatations as in the tree frogs. The only species, A. wuchereri, is from 

 eastern Brazil. ^ 



Stjb-Oeder III. — Gastrechmia. 



This sub-order is represented by but one family, the Hemisid^, and by a single 

 well-defined genus, JTemisus. The species, of which but two or three are known, are 

 of subterranean habits, and have a general resemblance to those of the genus Rhino- 

 phrynus of the Bufonidse. The head is similarly small and with acute muzzle, and 

 the body short and thick. H. guttatum is from South Africa, and 11. sudanense from 

 tropical Africa. The family is toothless. 



Sub-Order IV. — Firmisternia. 



Of the five families of this sub-order, three are toothless, and two have teeth in 

 the upper jaw only. Of the toothless families the Dendrobatidse have cylindj'ic sacral 

 processes, and the Phryniscida9 and Engy- 

 stomidsB have them dilated. Of these two, 

 the former has a clavicle and precoracoid, 

 while they are absent in the latter. They 

 are also present in the toothed families, 

 which only differ from each other in the 

 form of the sacral transverse processes. In 

 the Dyscophidse these are dilated, and in the 

 RanidaB they are cylindric or nearly so. 



The Dendeobatid^ belong exclusively 

 to tropical continental America, and to Mad- 

 agascar, a distribution nearly paralleled by 

 some other vertebrates, as the boas and the Iguanid lizards. The species are not 

 numerous, and they all have digital dilatations, supported by T-shaped phalanges. 

 The species of Dendrobates, which are all American, live on the ground. 



Fig. 203. — Skeleton of Breviceps gihhosus, of South 

 Africa, from below. 



