Temporal Aspects of the Amplexus and Oviposition Behavior of the Fanged Frog Rana kuhlii from Taiwan

Abstract

Amplexus among anurans, during which the male grasps the female for a period prior to, during, and after oviposition, varies interspecifically in duration, from less than 1 hour to more than 100 days (Wells, 1977; Duellman and Trueb, 1986). Why such variation exists is an interesting theme in the breeding biology of anurans. Detailed observations of mating behavior after pair formation, however, have been conducted for only a few species (Townsend and Stewart, 1986; Marquez and Verrell, 1991; Tsuji and Kawamichi, 1998). In particular, very little is known of the behavior during amplexus of some species that exhibit reversed sexual size dimorphism wherein the males are larger than the females.