Register      Login
Australian Journal of Zoology Australian Journal of Zoology Society
Evolutionary, molecular and comparative zoology
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > ZO > ZO04060
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 53(4)

Geographic variation in advertisement calls of Crinia signifera (Anura : Myobatrachidae) in the Bass Strait area of south-eastern Australia

M. J. Littlejohn
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia. Email: m.littlejohn@zoology.unimelb.edu.au

Australian Journal of Zoology 53(4) 221-228 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO04060
Submitted: 4 August 2004  Accepted: 24 May 2005   Published: 6 September 2005

Abstract

The structure of recorded advertisement calls of a total of 176 males of Crinia signifera from eight localities on the south-eastern Australian mainland and Tasmania was investigated. On the basis of number of pulses per call (samples from all localities) and call duration adjusted to 13.0°C (samples from six localities), two geographic groups are recognised: (1) south-central Victoria, and (2) the extreme south-eastern mainland and Tasmania. This pattern of variation is postulated to reflect expansion of a differentiated Tasmanian stock on to the extreme south-eastern Australian mainland along the eastern sill of the Bassian Isthmus during the lower sea levels of the Late Pleistocene. Geographic variation in pulse rate (derived from number of pulses and call duration) was also considered because of its use in previous studies. The variation in dominant frequency in samples from five localities, adjusted for snout–vent length, does not conform to that for number of pulses and call duration, and is attributed to differences in demographic structure and recruitment.


Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from the Australian Research Council, the Nuffield Foundation (King Island) and the University of Melbourne. Scientific research permits were provided by the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria; and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, New South Wales. Procedures were approved by the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee of the University of Melbourne. The following people kindly assisted with the field work: Ben Bell (Victoria), Jean-Marc Hero (Tasmania), Patsy Littlejohn (Victoria), and the late Peter Rawlinson (King Island). John Wright carried out the acoustic analyses on the Kay DSP 5500 digital Sona-Graph. The author thanks: the residents of Willowmavin, Victoria, and Bramhall and Lune River, Tasmania, for allowing access to dams and ponds on their properties; Melbourne Water for access to the Yan Yean Water Supply Reserve; and the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria, for access to the Rhyll Swamp Reserve, Phillip Island. Angus Martin kindly read and commented on a recent draft of the manuscript.


References

Brook A. J. (1981). ‘Atlas of Frogs of South Australia.’ (Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne: Melbourne.)

Brook A. J. (1983). ‘Atlas of Australian Anura.’ (Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne: Melbourne.)

Colhoun, E. A. , Hannan, D. , and Kiernan, K. (1996). Late Wisconsin glaciation in Tasmania. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 130, 33–45.
Gerhardt H. C., and Huber F. (2002). ‘Acoustic Communication in Insects and Anurans.’ (University of Chicago Press: Chicago.)

Gerhardt H. C., and Schwartz J. J. (2001). Auditory tuning and frequency preferences in anurans. In ‘Anuran Communication’. (Ed. M. J. Ryan.) pp. 73–85. (Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington, DC.)

Giacoma C., and Castellano S. (2001). Advertisement call variation and speciation in the Bufo viridis complex. In ‘Anuran Communication’. (Ed. M. J. Ryan.) pp. 205–219. (Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington, DC.)

Houston T. F., and Tyler M. J. (1979). Reptiles and amphibians. In ‘Natural History of Kangaroo Island’. (Eds M. J. Tyler, C. R. Twidale and J. K. Ling.) pp. 115–122. (Royal Society of South Australia: Adelaide.)

Lambeck, K. , and Chappell, J. (2001). Sea level change through the last glacial cycle. Science 292, 679–686.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | Littlejohn M. J. (1999). Variation in advertisement calls of anurans across zonal interactions. In ‘Geographic Variation in Behavior’. (Eds S. A. Foster and J. A. Endler.) pp. 209–233. (Oxford University Press: New York.)

Littlejohn M. J. (2001). Patterns of differentiation in temporal properties of acoustic signals of anurans. In ‘Anuran Communication’. (Ed. M. J. Ryan.) pp. 102–120. (Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington, DC.)

Littlejohn M. J. (2003). ‘Frogs of Tasmania. Fauna of Tasmania Handbook No. 6.’ 2nd edn. (University of Tasmania: Hobart.)

Littlejohn M. J., and Martin A. A. (1974). The Amphibia of Tasmania. In ‘Biogeography and Ecology in Tasmania’. (Ed. W. D. Williams.) pp. 251–289. (Dr W. Junk: The Hague.)

Littlejohn, M. J. , and Wright, J. R. (1997). Structure of the acoustic signals of Crinia glauerti (Anura: Myobatrachidae) from south-western Australia, and comparison with those of C. signifera from South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 121, 103–117.
Littlejohn M. J., Harrison P. A., and Mac Nally R. C. (1985). Interspecific acoustic interactions in sympatric populations of Ranidella signifera and R. parinsignifera (Anura: Leptodactylidae). In ‘The Biology of Australasian Frogs and Reptiles’. (Eds G. Grigg, R. Shine and H. Ehmann.) pp. 287–296. (Surrey Beatty & Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales: Sydney.)

Littlejohn M. J., Roberts J. D., Watson G. F., and Davies M. (1993). Family Myobatrachidae. In ‘Fauna of Australia. Volume 2A, Amphibia and Reptilia’. (Eds C. J. Glasby, G. J. B. Ross and P. L. Beesley.) pp. 41–57. (Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra.)

Martin H. A., and Peterson J. A. (1978). Eustatic sea-level changes and environmental gradients. In ‘Climatic Change and Variability’. (Eds A. B. Pittock, L. A. Frakes, D. Jenssen, J. A. Peterson and J. W. Zillman.) pp. 108–124. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.)

Rawlinson P. A. (1974). Biogeography and ecology of the reptiles of Tasmania and the Bass Strait area. In ‘Biogeography and Ecology in Tasmania’. (Ed. W. D. Williams.) pp. 291–338. (Dr W. Junk: The Hague.)

Read, K. , Keogh, J. S. , Scott, I. A. W. , Roberts, J. D. , and Doughty, P. (2001). Molecular phylogeny of the Australian frog genera Crinia, Geocrinia, and allied taxa (Anura: Myobatrachidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 21, 294–308.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | Schwaner T. D., Miller B., and Tyler M. J. (1985). Reptiles and amphibians. In ‘Natural History of Eyre Peninsula’. (Eds C. R. Twidale, M. J. Tyler and M. Davies.) pp. 159–168. (Royal Society of South Australia: Adelaide.)

Straughan, I. R. , and Main, A. R. (1966). Speciation and polymorphism in the genus Crinia Tschudi (Anura, Leptodactylidae) in Queensland. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland 78, 11–28.
Wilczynski W., and Ryan M. J. (1999). Geographic variation in animal communication systems. In ‘Geographic Variation in Behavior’. (Eds S. A. Foster and J. A. Endler.) pp. 234–261. (Oxford University Press: New York.)

Zar J. H. (1999). ‘Biostatistical Analysis.’ 4th edn. (Prentice Hall International: London.)