CATALOGUE 



or THE 



REPTILIA AND AMPHIBIA OF MICHIGAN. 



By W. H. Smith, M. D., Ph. D. 



The present catalogue is prepared with a view of giving the natu- 

 ralist the means of determining at a glance the herpetological fauna 

 of the State. That some animals may be omitted which will subse- 

 quently be detected, though rare, in Michigan, is a fact too patent to 

 need discussion. And yet it is hoped and believed that the present 

 list wSl be found nearly or quite complete. 



While it is not intended in the present paper to discuss the 

 geographical distribution of these animals, it may be of interest to 

 state that our blue-tailed skink, Eameces fasciatus, which is common in 

 Michigan and the eastern United States, also occurs in Mississippi, 

 Florida, Japan, New Holland and the PhiUppiaes, a dozen of this 

 species having been found iu the collection brought by Prof. Steere 

 from the last named locahty, thus showing that it is probably the com- 

 monest lizard found in those islands. Also that our Sana temporaria 

 var. sylvatica differs somewhat from the European animal, but that 

 those found in Eastern Asia are intermediate between the two. These 

 facts would seem to indicate that the faunas of the two continents had 

 formerly been more or less mingled by a migration from one to the 

 other along our Western border. Also, it may be said, that our Rana 

 halecina is the analogue of the Bana esculenta of the Old World, and 

 Btifo lentiginosiis corresponds similarly to their Biifo vulgaris. 



Some inieresting facts meet us in regard to the habitat of these 

 animals, as is notably the case with our lurid salamander, Amhly- 

 stoma tigrmum var. luridum. This animal appears every spring as 

 soon as the ice has thawed, at a small pond in Ann Arbor known as 

 the cat-hole. They can be seen there at this period in immense num- 

 bers, but soon lay their eggs and disappear. During the remainder of 

 the season they are to be found nowhere iu the vicinity of this city, 

 either in or outside of the pond. Where they go in the interim and 

 spend their time only to reappear here again at the breeding season, 

 is, so far as known to me, a mystery. However, it is probable that the 

 animals after oviposition retreat inland and burrow or conceal them- 

 selves under logs and stones during the daytime, thus either lying in 

 wait for their prey or issuing forth at night to seek it. Iu like manner 



