Abstract
AbstractAmphibians exhibit diverse reproductive behaviors, including nine documented types of amplexus, the behavior in which male and female frogs position themselves for courtship, oviposition, and fertilization. All known forms of amplexus involve the male on top of or in line horizontally (cloacal apposition) with the female. Here, we report a novel form of amplexus observed in Lau’s leaf litter toad (Leptobrachella laui; Megophryidae) in Hong Kong, China. Termed “sex‐reversed inguinal amplexus,” the female climbs on top of a male and the male transports the female to a concealed breeding site. We were unable to determine whether this was the amplectant position in which frogs engaged during oviposition or solely during courtship and prior to oviposition, but there are a number of possible evolutionary drivers that may have given rise to this behavior, including limiting suitable oviposition sites or strong competition for males among females. Further research will be necessary to understand the evolutionary origins of this novel reproductive behavior.
Highlights
Frogs display diverse reproductive behaviors (Wells 2007, Crump 2015, Pough et al 2016), many arising through sexual selection
Given that we know little about the life histories of many recently described amphibian species, documentation of novel reproductive behaviors is important to increasing our understanding of the diversity and evolution of reproduction in frogs
As the reproductive ecology of frogs in this genus was largely unknown and sex-reversed inguinal amplexus had not been previously documented in any frog, we undertook 30 surveys distributed between two streams known to harbor populations of this species to further document this behavior
Summary
Frogs display diverse reproductive behaviors (Wells 2007, Crump 2015, Pough et al 2016), many arising through sexual selection. There are a number of hypotheses concerning the mechanism driving this derivation This position brings the cloacas of males and females closer together and may be beneficial in species that lay their entire complement of eggs as a single mass in a short time period (Wells 2007). The male either fertilizes eggs as the female releases them (external fertilization) or transfers sperm directly to the female’s cloaca for internal fertilization This form of amplexus occurs in frogs that oviposit in terrestrial habitats or are ovoviviparous (Vitt and Caldwell 2014). We report the discovery of a novel amplexus position involving the female on top, clasping the male, in Lau’s leaf litter toad from Hong Kong We refer to this new mating position as “sex-reversed inguinal amplexus.”. We refer to this new mating position as “sex-reversed inguinal amplexus.” Given that we know little about the life histories of many recently described amphibian species, documentation of novel reproductive behaviors is important to increasing our understanding of the diversity and evolution of reproduction in frogs
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