α. Tympanum distinct. Toes webbed. .......... Mixophyes fasciolatus.
β. Tympanum hidden. Toes webbed. .......... Heleioporus, p. [222].
γ. Tympanum indistinct. Toes free or slightly webbed. .......... Limnodynastes, p. [222].
Pseudis, widely distributed over South America, consists of four species which have the appearance of long-legged frogs. The fingers, of which the first is opposed to the others, are free; the long toes are fully webbed. The tympanum is exposed.
P. paradoxa is absolutely aquatic, floating in pools, and is extremely shy. In life it is most beautifully coloured with bronze, bright green, and black markings above; underneath it is shiny yellow, with brown spots on the body and stripes on the thighs. Within a few minutes after death all the brilliant colours of the smooth skin of the back turn into dull uniform brown, with indistinct darker spots. Total length of the adult from 2 to 2½ inches. The specific name refers to the peculiar shape and monstrous size of the larva or tadpole.
One of the larvae described and figured by Parker measures 10⅓ inches in length, the head and body taking up 3⅓ inches. The spiracle lies on the left side and the hind legs are ½ inch long, just breaking through the skin. The vent is median. The huge tail is very thick and muscular, and is furnished with a high, irregularly shaped dorsal and ventral fin, the whole organ measuring 4 inches dorso-ventrally. Another larva, or rather tadpole, in the national collection is older, and although still very large, namely, 7 inches long, has fully developed hind-limbs 3 inches long; the fore-limbs are less than half that size, the left protrudes through the spiracle, while the right has broken through the skin. The dorsal and ventral fins of the tail have much shrunk; the whole organ, 5 inches long, is gradually tapering to a point like the tail of ordinary tadpoles. By the time that the tadpole is nearly ready to leave the water, its whole bulk is reduced to less than one-fifth that of the largest tadpole. It measures from snout to vent only 1½ inch (in the 7-inch tadpole this distance is fully 2 inches), and the tail, devoid of fins, is reduced to 2 inches in length. Instead of the solitary left spiracle there are now two, one on the ventral side and a little in front of the base of each arm, the border of each hole being continued by a peculiar semilunar fold.
Fig. 42.–Hylodes martinicensis. 1, an egg with embryo about seven days old; 2, another, twelve days old; 3, the young Frog just hatched; all × ¾; 4, adult male × 1. (After Peters.)
Hylodes.–The numerous species, nearly fifty, of this tropical American genus exhibit several anatomical differences. The tympanum is sometimes indistinct or hidden, in which case the Eustachian tubes are generally very narrow. The fingers are free, and carry discs, like the toes, which are sometimes slightly webbed. The males have a subgular vocal sac, producing a loud, or whistling, voice. The general appearance is that of land- and tree-frogs; the size is small, mostly between 1 and 2 inches.
H. martinicensis is about 1½ inch in length. The ground-colour is pale yellow-grey, with a large brown patch on the nape, which colour is continued over the back in the shape of more or less coherent or dissolved patches. A dark brown stripe runs along the middle of the sides. The limbs are barred with brown, the under parts are whitish. This species, known by the vernacular name of "coqui" inhabits many of the West Indian islands, e.g. Barbadoes, Martinique, Porto Rico, and Hayti. It has become famous, as it was the first instance known of a frog which undergoes its whole metamorphosis within the egg. The pairing takes place on land, in the months of May and June, when the female lays about twenty eggs, which are enveloped in a foamy mass and glued on to a broad leaf, or hidden in the axillae of Iridaceous plants. The mother seems to remain in the neighbourhood watching the eggs, which are large, measuring 4-5 mm. in diameter. Dr. Gundlach, a resident in Porto Rico, was one day, in the month of May, attracted by sounds like those of a young bird, and found three males and one female of this species sitting between two large leaves of an orange-tree. He put them all into a glass vessel and soon saw a pair in embrace. The female laid about twenty-five pale straw-coloured eggs. The embryo develops neither gills nor gill-openings, but a large well-vascularised tail, by means of which, being immersed in the watery fluid contained within the egg, it seems to breathe. After twenty-one days the tadpole, having used up all the available yolk and fluid, and most of its own tail, bursts the egg-shell and hops away as a little frog of 5 mm. in length, but still with a stumpy white tail, which is quite absorbed within the same day.