Courtship Season Research Articles

Induction of marking behavior in wild red foxes (Vulpes vulpes L.) by synthetic urinary constituents

A control aqueous solution containing alcohol and polyethylene glycol, and a test solution with the addition of a mixture of eight volatile synthetic compounds identified in red fox urine, Were alternately placed on man-made mounds of fresh snow during January and February, the foxes' courtship season. The foxes preferentially marked those mounds treated with the test solution in the two experimental areas (P < 0.05 and <0.0001). It is concluded that one or more of the volatile substances induces mound marking in this species.

Aspects of the Life History and Ecology of the Olympic Salamander, Rhyacotriton olympicus (Gaige)

Life history attributes of two populations of Rhyacotriton olympicus were studied in western Oregon. A population in the Coast Range had (1) smaller eggs; (2) smaller metamorphic size; (3) smaller size at maturity; (4) smaller mean adult size; (5) smaller maximum size, and (6) higher fecundity, compared to a population in the Columbia River Gorge. Also, the population in the Coast Range is thought to have smaller hatchlings and lower age at maturity. Females are larger in both populations. Spermatophores were found in females in all months except August, September, December and January, indicating an ex- tended courtship season. Similarly, oviposition may occur at almost any time,, although there is a peak of courtship and egg-laying activity in May in both populations. Data on growth, density and movement of marked larvae are given for the population in the Columbia River Gorge. Females reproduce annually and apparently do not attend the embryos. In many respects, the reproductive mode of R. olympicus is more like that of hemidactyliine plethodontids than other ambys- tomatids.

Courtship Behavior of the Red Salamander, Pseudotriton ruber

Recently captured adults of Pseudotriton ruber nitidus from Virginia and Pseudotriton ruber ruber from New Jersey were observed in courtship during the spring of 1959 and 1962, respectively. In Virginia, males were found carrying cloacal spermatophores in the fall and spring of the year. Terrestrial courtship and a fall and spring courtship season is postulated for the species. Heterosexual and homosexual courtship patterns are described and found to be the most simple yet observed in the family Plethodontidae. If simplicity indicates primitiveness then Dunn's contention that Pseudotriton is close to the ancestral stock of the family is confirmed.