From herpdigest.org
Chemical Communication In An Archaic Anuran Amphibian
Behavioral Ecology Vol. 15 No. 1: 88-93
Bruce Waldmana and Phillip J. Bishopb
a Department of Zoology, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand b
Department of Zoology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand
Address correspondence to B. Waldman. E-mail: bw@zool.canterbury.ac.nz.
Bioacoustic signals appear to be so essential to the social communication of anuran amphibians
that other sensory modalities have been largely ignored. We studied the abilities of Leiopelma
hamiltoni, a species evolutionarily basal to most living anurans, to communicate by means of
chemosignals. We collected frogs in the field, held them in captivity for 72 h, and then tested
their preferences for substrates that they had marked themselves to those marked by
conspecifics. Individuals preferred paper towels that they had marked themselves to those marked
by frogs collected from other home ranges. Preferences were greater, on average, when the
conspecific had been collected farther away. Frogs did not discriminate between their own odor
and those of other individuals with which they had shared a home range. Individuals preferred
their own odor to a blank unmarked towel but also avoided odors of unfamiliar conspecifics when
paired with a blank. The discovery of chemical communi!
cation in an archaic anuran offers a window into how frogs may have communicated before
mechanisms of bioacoustic signaling evolved. We suggest, however, that chemical signaling may be
widespread in anuran amphibians.
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