DO NOT CiRCULATF. , ^ IX ^ ^ r 3m^ r'Jjtj ^^-U£. COMP. ZOCI LIBRARY. B R E V I O' R A ,970 Meseuiiiii of Comparative Zoolog^ERsiTYJ Cambridge, Mass. 30 December. 1969 Number 338 A NEW FROG OF THE GENUS DISCODELES (RANIDAE) FROM GUADALCANAL ISLAND Walter C. Brown' and T. Preston Webster Abstract. A fourth species of Solomon Island's Discodeles, D. nialii-kiiihi (Ranidae), is described from 28 specimens collected near Malukuna, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Among the species collected are three (H\-Ici littea. a new species of Batraclxylodes, and Platymuntis myersi) previous-ly unknown from Guadalcanal. INTRODUCTION Boulenger (1918a. 1920). in his treatment of the probable evolutionary lines within the large genus Rana, noted that the hy-laranid and discodelid subgenera shared one characteristic, horizon-tal groove associated with the dilated disks at the tips of the toes and sometimes the fingers, but differed in the characteristics, struc-ture of the omosternum. and degree of union of the outer meta-tarsals. He also (1918b) pointed out the close affinities of the genera Cornufer and Platymantis (both are currently included in one genus, Cornufer, by many authors) with Discodeles, particu-larly in the presence of a horizontal groove on the toe disks and in the union of the outer metatarsals throughout most or all of their length. Noble ( 193 1 . p. 521 fi"), recognizing the subfamily Cornu-ferinae in the Ranidae, was obligated to raise Discodeles and Hy-larana to generic rank, since Rana (sensii stricto) was retained in the subfamily Raninae. He noted the close relationships of the gen-era Ceratobatrachus, Discodeles, Cornufer and Platymantis in ' Stanford University. Stanford. California, and Menlo College. Menlo Park, California
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