George William Byers

“ A juvenile from Cheju Do was found among moss-covered rocks in a stream bed; the other specimens from Cheju Do were found among moss-covered rocks on the western slope of Halla San.
Each ovary of a female obtained on October 23 contained five enlarged follicles, about 1 mm. in diameter. The left testis of a male obtained on August 10 seemed enlarged, indicating possible sexual activity, and measured approximately 6 x 2 mm. The snout-vent length of our largest male is 41, that of our largest female, 48. ”

“ Remarks.—This nocturnal, introduced species (Okada, 1931:47) is presumably widespread in Korea and seemingly prefers lowland habitats. Individuals were taken in sparse vegetation on a sand flat near the Han River, at the edge of a rice field in a light rain, along a road at night, and in millet fields adjacent to the Han River, which was flooding at that time (July 9) . ”

“ Six or seven egg masses (some having small tadpoles) were observed in the shallow water, but it was not certain to which species the eggs belonged. Completely metamorphosed young (probably R. a. coreana) were first seen 1 mi. N Oho-ri on June 9. At Taehoesan-ni on November 12, several sluggish frogs were seen in a small pool that was covered by a thin layer of ice.
On September 26 in the Central National Forest, many wood frogs of various sizes were observed. R. amurensis and R. temporaria probably have extended breeding seasons that correspond to those of R. rugosa and R. nigromaculata. ”

“ All quickly became active when placed in water. Two of the females (43 and 44 in snout-vent length) contained masses of immature eggs. A male obtained on June 4 was found during a rain; the three UMMZ specimens were obtained on July 8 on banks above the Han River. Breeding of this species seems to coincide with the rainy season in late spring and early summer when males were noted calling around flooded ditches and swales in deep grass. ”

“ Also, males have conspicuous black-tipped tubercles on the back (usually absent in females) that extend onto the limbs (usually smooth in females, at least laterally) . Field observations by one of us (Byers) suggested that the dorsal pattern of males had greater contrast than that of females and that the venter was brighter reddish. ”

“ In our specimens, R. amurensis coreana differs from R. temporaria dybowskii in having (1) smaller maximal size, (2) more slender body, (3) shorter legs, (4) incompletely webbed toes, (5) no mottling or barring on lips, (6) no contrasting barred pattern on hind legs, (7) dark brown stripes (usually) between dorsolateral folds, (8) a dark brown, linear mark below canthus, and (9) an immaculate ventral surface. Two additional distinguishing characters, which we found difficult to evaluate, are the nearly straight, dorsolateral folds, and lack of vocal sacs or ostia in males of R. a. ”

“ The ventrals of 11 males averaged 161.3 (158-171) and those of 14 females, 165.1 (160-170) ; subcaudals of eight males averaged 69.6 (66-74) and those of 14 females, 61.5 (52-73) .
Males seem to have small scales in the anal region that are more strongly keeled than scales elsewhere on the body (the scales catch on finger tips when rubbed in a posteroanterior direction) , but males lack small tubercles on the upper and lateral parts of the head as mentioned by Maslin (1950:433) . ”

“ The posterior part of the body and tail of each bears well-defined blotches (dark brown or black) with buffy interspaces; the dorsal blotches are sometimes arranged in pairs. The ventral surface of each is marbled throughout. These two males are noteworthy in that the pattern anteriorly is obscure, but the ground color is dark, not pale as in the two specimens from the vicinity of Seoul.
Agkistrodon halys brevicaudus Stejneger
Agkistrodon blomhoffii brevicaudus Stejneger, Bull. ”

“ In the breeding season, males are distinguished from females by the large blackish (probably brownish earlier in season) areas on the anteroventral surface of the antebrachium, the metacarpal tubercle, and the inner surface of the first finger (sometimes also the second and third) . ”

“ Howard K. Gloyd, University of Arizona, who currently is studying the systematics of the genus Agkistrodon, has our specimens on loan. [Pg 171]
Gazetteer
Listed below are all localities mentioned in the accounts of species; the latitude (north) and longitude (east) are given for each. All place-names can be found in "Gazetteer to maps of Korea," 3 vols., AMS 2, U. S. Army Map Service, September, 1950, and, except for the two marked by an asterisk, can be located on AMS map series L552 (Korea, 1:250,000) . ”

“ A young of the year (length of body, 340) was captured on September 30; another juvenile (length of body, 285) was obtained in May.
Our largest male (KU 40123) measured 904 (719 + 185) in total length. Ventrals and subcaudals of six females averaged 205.8 (198-211) and 62.2 (55-69) , respectively, whereas corresponding counts of four males averaged 196.8 (190-214) , and 71.0 (69-74) . Each of nine specimens had dorsal scales in 23-25-19 rows except one (UMMZ 113451) , which had 23-25-23 rows.
Elaphe rufodorsata (Cantor) ”

“ The listing of "Hylae arboreae var japonicae descript pars Schleg. in Fauna Japon. p. 112 ..." by Günther (1858:81) in synonymy under the account of Polypedates schlegelii, implies that Schlegel was the first author to use the name-combination Hyla arborea japonica. ”

“ Trionyx (Aspidonectes) sinensis Wiegmann, Nova Acta Acad. Leopold.-Carol., 17:189, 1835 (type locality, near Macao, China) .
Specimen examined.—Han River, 5 mi. ESE Seoul, 1 (KU) .
Remarks.—Our only specimen was purchased from a man who had captured it by hand in the Han River; it was the only turtle seen during our stay in Korea. Koreans eat turtles, and the elaborate (and relatively permanent) fish-traps that they construct across streams and small rivers probably reduce the size of populations of T. sinensis and other species. [Pg 162]
Eremias argus Peters
Eremias argus Peters, Monatsber. ”

“ Eight females from Tangjonggok averaged 47.9 (43-51) in snout-vent length, whereas 24 males from there averaged 50.0 (46-55) , indicating little, if any, size difference between the sexes.
Okada (1931:29) recorded variation in color of live Korean individuals (green or brown dorsally and pale yellow or red ventrally) and variation in extent of black markings on the belly (op. cit.:fig. 12) . The specimens from Cheju Do (28, 32, 32, 32, 37 and 46 in snout-vent length) have less black ventrally than specimens from the mainland.
Bufo bufo gargarizans Cantor
Bufo gargarizans Cantor, Ann. ”