Advertisement calls play an important role in influencing female mate choice and are regarded as one of the key characters responsible for reproductive isolation and speciation events in frogs and toads. The black-spined toad, Bufo melanostictus, is one of the most common amphibians in Southeast Asia and is frequently observed in human habitations throughout its distributional range. The advertisement calls of the toad have not been well described. Here, we report the advertisement calls of this species from Lishui, Zhejiang, China during its breeding season. The advertisement calls of B. melanostictus are composed of single notes with a single harmonic frequency emitted sporadically. The call parameters recorded in this study were highly variable across recording times and with different body sizes. Dominant frequency was negatively correlated with body size. Comparing the calls of the B. melanostictus population from Lishui with the populations from five other localities(Bangkok, Thailand; Coorg, India; Burma, Myanmar; Bali, Indonesia; Halimun-Salak National Park, Indonesia), we found that call structure was similar among five different populations with no harmonics, while the Halimun-Salak National Park population contained two clear harmonics. Dominant frequency was similar between Bali(1.56 kHz) and Coorg(1.6 kHz) populations, while it was highly variable among other populations. Besides call duration, call interval and pulse/call rate may also be significantly different among the comparing populations. Pooling the available data, we observed some similarities and differences in call parameters among the six populations.
Li WEILihua ZHAOXiaohao MAXiaoli FANXiaomei MAZhihua LIN
We recorded and described the calls and acoustic characteristics of the male tiger frog,Hoplobatrachus rugulosus,in an artificial pond during mating season.Spectral and temporal call parameters,along with call intensity were analyzed.Three harmonics were distinguishable from the spectrogram.Four patterns of dominant frequency were found in calls produced late at night,i.e,3 patterns in the first harmonic（located in 500 Hz section,700 Hz section,and 800 Hz section respectively） and 1 in the second harmonic（located in 1 800 Hz section）.Call duration,call duty cycle,call intensity,and pulse rate were highly variable among different patterns of dominant frequency.These call properties could provide valuable evidence for further ecological study of this species.
