Abstract
This experiment showed that the courtship behavior of Desmognathus aeneus includes a prolonged biting phase, during which the male bites the female tenaciously. This unusual behavior has been described in only one other plethodontid, Desmognathus wrighti. In most other respects, the courtship behavior of D. aeneus is similar to that of its congeners. Morphological characters associated with biting, as well as the functional and evolutionary significance of biting, are evaluated. The courtship behavior preceding and including insemination in salamanders is elaborate. Among plethodontid salaman- ders there is relatively little diversity in courtship behavior, but numerous studies have documented courtship behavior in plethodontids (Noble and Brady, 1930; Or- gan, 1961a; Salthe, 1967; Arnold, 1972). Sal- amanders have no intromittent organ. In- stead, the male transfers sperm by means of a spermatophore, a gelatinous base sup- porting a sperm mass. After the male courts with the female for a period lasting up to several hours, he deposits a spermatophore on the substrate. He leads the female over
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