Advertisement calls of Guenther's frog Hylarana guentheri (Anura: Ranidae) during the breeding season

摘要

Acoustic signalling is the most important form of communication in anuran amphibians. Here we recorded and analysed the calls of 18 male Guenther's frogs (Hylarana guentheri) from the wild during the breeding season. The advertisement calls of H. guentheri were composed of from a single note to five notes, with three-note calls the most recorded. All individuals produced calls around 600 Hz but calls ranged from 470 to 2600 Hz. Comparing the differences between individuals calls, we found within-male coefficients of variation (CVw) of call intensity, the fundamental frequency, the first formant, the second formant, the third formant and the fourth formant were static (less than 5% variation), whereas those of note duration, call duration, call interval, numbers of pulses and dominant frequency were dynamic (larger than 15% variation). Comparisons of the call characteristics of H. guentheri in this study with other studies from China, Singapore and Vietnam found call characteristics varied greatly between the five different locations.