_Coloration._--The tadpoles of _Smilisca_ lack the bright colors or bold markings characteristic of some hylid tadpoles; even so, the subdued colors and arrangement of pigments provide some distinctive markings by which the species can be distinguished from one another. The species comprising the _baudini_ group (_S. baudini_, _cyanosticta_, and _phaeota_) are alike in having the body brown or grayish brown dorsally and transparent with scattered brown pigment ventrally. A cream-colored, crescent-shaped mark is present on the posterior edge of the body; this mark is usually most noticeable in _S. baudini_ and least so in _S. cyanosticta_. Other differences in coloration in members of the _baudini_ group are relative and subtle. _Smilisca phaeota_ usually is more pallid than _baudini_, and _cyanosticta_ usually is darker than _baudini_; both species have larger dark markings on the tail than does _S. phaeota_. _Smilisca baudini_ has a dark streak on the middle of the anterior one-fourth of the tail (Figs. 11-13). _Smilisca puma_ is distinctive in having a grayish brown body and dark gray reticulations on the tail. _Smilisca sila_ and _sordida_ are distinctive in having pairs (sometimes interconnected) of dark marks on the dorsal surfaces of the caudal musculature, and in dorsal view the tail appears to be marked with dark and pale creamy tan transverse bars. These dark marks, as well as the small flecks on the tail, are brown in _S. sila_ and red in _sordida_. _Smilisca sila_ has dark brown flecks on the dorsal surface of the body and small white flecks laterally; these markings are absent in _S. sordida_ (Fig. 14). Descriptions of the coloration of living tadpoles are given in the accounts of the species. [Illustration: FIG. 14. Tadpoles of _Smilisca_; (A) _S. puma_, Stage 30 (KU 91807); (B) _S. sila_, Stage 25 (KU 80260); _S. sordida_, Stage 30 (KU 68475). All x 3.5.] _Growth and Development_ Information on the growth and development of Middle American hylids is scanty. Adequate descriptions have been published for _Phyllomedusa annae_ (Duellman, 1963b), _Phrynohyas venulosa_ (Zweifel, 1964), and _Triprion petasatus_ (Duellman and Klaas, 1964). Material is available for adequate descriptions of the developmental stages of four species of _Smilisca_ (Tables 9-12, Figs. 11-13). Because none of the tadpoles was raised from hatching to metamorphosis, the rate of growth and duration of the larval stages are unknown. [Illustration: FIG. 15. Mouthparts of tadpoles of _Smilisca_; (A) _S. baudini_ (KU 60018); (B) _S. puma_ (KU 91807); (C) _S. cyanosticta_ (KU 87625); (D) _S. sila_ (KU 80620); (E) _S. phaeota_ (KU 68482); (F) _S. sordida_ (KU 68475). All x17.] Table 9.--Growth and Development of Tadpoles of Smilisca baudini. (Means Are Given in Parentheses After the Observed Ranges.)