The above description of the metamorphosis of the Frog applies fairly to the majority of the Anura, but it is necessary to notice a few of the more instructive divergences from the general type.
In the first place, several forms are known, which are hatched in the condition of the adult. The exact amount of metamorphosis which these forms pass through in the egg is still a matter of some doubt. Hylodes Martinicensis is one of these forms. The larva no doubt acquires within the egg a long tail; but while Bavay[52] states that it is provided with external gills, which however are not covered by an operculum, Peters[53] was unable to see any traces of such structures.
In Pipa Americana, and apparently in Pipa dorsigera also if a distinct species, the larva leaves the cells on the back of the mother in a condition closely resembling the adult. The embryos of both species develop a long tail in the egg, which is absorbed before hatching, and according to Wyman[54] P. Americana is also temporarily provided with gills, which atrophy early.
The larva of Rhinoderma Darwinii is stated by Jiminez de la Espada to be without external gills, and it appears to be hatched while still in the laryngeal pouch of the male. In Nototrema marsupiatum the larvæ are also stated to be without external gills.
Amongst the forms with remarkable developments Pseudis paradoxa deserves especial mention, in that the tadpole of this form attains an immensely greater bulk than the adult; a peculiarity which may be simply a question of nutrition, or may perhaps be explained by supposing that the larva resembles a real ancestral form, which was much larger than the existing Frog.
Another form of perhaps still greater morphological interest is the larva of Dactylethra. The chief peculiarities of this larva ([fig. 83]) have been summarized by Parker (No. [107], p. 626), from whom I quote the following passage:
a. “The mouth is not inferior in position, suctorial and small, but is very wide like that of the ‘Siluroids and Lophius;’ has an underhung lower jaw, an immensely long tentacle from each upper lip, and possesses no trace of the primordial horny jaws of the ordinary kind.
b. “In conformity with these characters the head is extremely flat or depressed, instead of being high and thick.
c. “There are no claspers beneath the chin.
d. “The branchial orifice is not confined to the left side, but exists on the right side also.