Home › Volumes › Frogs › Narrow-mouthed Toads
Engystoma Texense, Girard
Colour.—Grey, greenish or brownish, speckled and spotted irregularly with black. Spots show a tendency to arrangement in lines running lengthwise of the back. Tibia crossed by two narrow black bands placed close together. Underparts covered with light-coloured transparent skin, which shows the dark organs through. Throat and breast obscurely spotted with brown.
Measurements.—Size small, i.e. length 1 inch or slightly over. Distance from tip of muzzle to shoulder one-third total length, and greater than corresponding measurement in Engystoma carolinense. Legs relatively short. Tibia longer than femur.
Structure.—Skin smooth. Fold of skin back of eyes relatively inconspicuous. Canthus rostralis prominent. Three carpal tubercles. Inner sole tubercle small; outer lacking.
Range.—Rio Seco, Texas, is the type locality. Also reported from San Diego and Brownsville, Texas.
Colour.—Brown, of greenish, yellowish, or greyish tone. There may be a broad band of brighter brown extending from the eye backward. This oblique band is bordered above and below by wavy lines of black. There is a black line below the angle of the canthus rostralis. A white band bordered with black passes obliquely downward from under the eye to a point in front of and below the arm insertion. There is much bright dark red on the femur, and some touches of it on the tibia, and on the body where it lies against the femur. Many black spots at the posterior end of the body and along the concealed part of the femur. Legs banded with black. (There are usually two bands placed close together.) An orange-yellow or white thread line along the middle of the back from the muzzle to the posterior end of the body. The lower sides are grey. The underparts are light, obscurely mottled with dark. Throat closely speckled with black.
Measurements.—Size small, i. e. length of female 1 1/2 inches, male smaller. Head small and short, its length (to fold) contained about eight times in total length. Legs short; length to heel equals length of body forward to the shoulder.
Structure.—Body large and squat. Fold across head behind the eyes conspicuous, as is also the one from the eye to the shoulder. There is a fold across the breast from arm to arm. Ear not visible. Skin smooth, loose, and leathery on the back. The toes and fingers are slender. Feet with very short webs. Tubercles under joints of toes prominent. Inner and outer sole tubercles large, each with a cutting edge.
Range.—As far as known, reported only from San Diego and Brownsville, Texas. Abundant where found.
Colour.—Green, grey or brown, with somewhat rapid change from one colour to the other. Two irregular rows of rounded dark spots between the yellowish or bronze lateral folds. Two still more irregular rows of spots below the lateral folds on each side. Spots usually bordered conspicuously with lighter colour. Brown bands or disconnected spots on the legs. The underparts are white, possibly yellowish.
Measurements.—Size medium to large, i. e. male 3 1/2 inches; female larger. Body relatively slender. Head more or less pointed, its length contained in whole length of frog from three to three and a half times. Legs long, length to heel equal to length of head and body. Ear round, about two-thirds as large as eye.
Structure.—Skin relatively smooth or somewhat tubercular. Line from nostril to eye prominent. Broad, flattened lateral folds are conspicuous. Two (or four) more or less broken folds of skin extend lengthwise along the back between the lateral folds. Webs deeply indented. Tubercles under joints of toes rather prominent. Inner sole tubercle small; no outer tubercle.
Range.—The Leopard Frog is the most common frog in North America, east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is well-known in Florida; it is the edible frog in Texas; it is the only frog found between the eastern part of the Great Plains and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
This active little batrachian was found in 1859. (Capt. John Pope.) It was described by Girard and given the specific name texense. Later it was grouped with Engystoma carolinense by Cope. (Probably owing to the poor condition of the type specimen in the National Museum.) It differs from the Carolina Engystoma in many respects. It is smooth-skinned, instead of tubercular. It has a narrower and more pointed head, a more slender body, and shorter legs. The distance from the tip of the muzzle to the shoulder is proportionately greater than in Engystoma carolinense. The canthus rostralis is more prominent. The colouration is dull greenish or gray, instead of warm shades of brown.
Engystoma texense was found during late June, 1905, in relatively large numbers at Brownsville, Texas. It was breeding in the same pools with Scaphiopus couchii and Hypopachus cuneus.
Hypopachus cuneus is a bright-coloured, alert little batrachian that must be much more widely distributed than is known at present. At Brownsville, it has been found in shallow water in late June after heavy rains, at the same time that Scaphiopus couchii came from its underground burrow to deposit its eggs. Whenever this batrachian has been found, it has beenin abundance, so that there was no difficulty in catching dozens of the diminutive creatures.