The Cambridge natural history, Vol. 08 (of 10)Gadow, Hans
Science
The Cambridge natural history, Vol. 08 (of 10)
Gadow, Hans
Animals
_Nectophryne._–The sacral diapophyses are strongly dilated. _N. afra_,
without a tympanum, but with fully-webbed digits and several broad,
cushion-like or lamellar pads on the fingers and toes, inhabits the
Cameroons, _N. tuberculosa_ of Malabar, and _N. guentheri_ and _N. hosei_
of Borneo, have a visible tympanum and the fingers are webbed at the base
only. These slender and long-legged species are most probably arboreal, as
indicated by the broadened, but truncated, tips of their fingers and toes.
_N. hosei_ is about 4 inches long, _N. misera_ is a little creature of only
¾ inch in length. _Nectes_, hitherto known by one species, _N. subasper_ of
Java, is a swimmer and exceeds 6 inches in length. The tympanum is very
distinct; the small nostrils look upwards. The toes are long and webbed to
the tips; the hind-limbs are very long. The sacral diapophyses are strongly
dilated. The skin of the upper parts is very rugose, covered with round
warts, and dark brown; the under parts are granular and uniformly light
brown.
_Bufo._–The great number of species, more than 100, renders a strict
definition of this genus difficult. The tongue is pear-shaped, thicker in
front, entire, not cut out, but free behind, so that it can be projected.
The fingers are free, the toes more or less webbed although never
completely so. The terminal phalanges are obtuse and sometimes carry tiny
discs. The omosternum is absent or merely vestigial. The metasternum is a
rather large cartilaginous plate with a waist, which is sometimes
incompletely calcified. The sacral diapophyses are moderately dilated. The
tympanum is distinct or hidden. The skin of the upper parts is always rich
in specific poison-glands, a concentration of which forms in many species
very conspicuous, thickened parotoid glands. The surface of the skin may be
smooth, moist and slimy, or rough and warty, sometimes covered with tiny,
sharp, horny spikes and quite dry.
The genus is cosmopolitan, with the exception of the whole Australian
region and Madagascar, from which we may perhaps conclude that its original
centre was not in Notogaea, in spite of the diversity of species in the
Neotropical region, which now contains about half of all the species known.
Next to Central America the Indian region is richest in species of _Bufo_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account