_Discoglossus._–The tympanum is frequently more or less concealed by the skin. The pupil is round or triangular. The omosternum is small. The vertebrae are of the epichordal type. _D. pictus_, the only species, has a smooth and shiny skin, provided with numerous small mucous glands. The palms of the hands are provided with three tubercles, of which the innermost is the largest, and is carried by the vestige of the thumb. The coloration of this species is very variable. The ground-colour of the upper parts is a rich olive brown with darker, light-edged patches, which are either separate or confluent in various ways, forming broad, longitudinal bands, or a few larger asymmetrical patches, separated in some individuals by a broad and conspicuous light brown or yellowish vertebral stripe. An irregular reddish band frequently extends from the eyes backwards along the sides. The under parts are mostly yellowish white. This variability is purely individual, the most differently marked and variously coloured specimens being found in the same locality and even amongst the members of one and the same brood. The male develops various nuptial excrescences, consisting of minute, dark, horny spines, notably on the inner palmar pad, on the inner side of the first and second finger, on the chin and throat, and smaller and more scattered spicules on the belly and legs. This pretty and extremely active little creature, which measures between 2 and 3 inches in length, is confined to the south-western corner of the Palaearctic sub-region, being found in Algiers and Morocco, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and the southern and western parts of the Iberian Peninsula. Curiously {154}enough it is absent in the Balearic Isles. Rather aquatic in its habits, frequenting pools and streams, it is also often found on land.