Strong Site Fidelity and a Variety of Imaging Techniques Reveal Around-the-Clock and Extended Activity Patterns in Crawfish Frogs (Lithobates areolatus)

Abstract

Crawfish frogs (Lithobates areolatus) base their nonbreeding activities in and around the entrances of crayfish burrows. This site preference allows individual crawfish frogs to be monitored using still and video imaging techniques. We used three camera types offering different continuities, scales, and resolutions of data to observe the frogs' activity patterns and nonbreeding behaviors. Together, these techniques allowed us to observe two behaviors in crawfish frogs previously unreported for amphibians: (1) circumdiel activity patterns, and (2) long periods (days) of surface activity. Although these behavioral findings are at this time specific to crawfish frogs, we suspect that they may not be unusual activity patterns for other frogs, as well. The use of imaging techniques that take advantage of these frogs' dependence on burrows and use of burrow entrances has allowed us to observe these patterns for the first time.