A Field Study of the Kansas Ant-Eating Frog, Gastrophryne olivaceaFitch, Henry S. (Henry Sheldon)
Science
A Field Study of the Kansas Ant-Eating Frog, Gastrophryne olivacea
Fitch, Henry S. (Henry Sheldon)
Frogs
Frogs uncovered in their hiding places beneath flat rocks often remained
motionless depending on concealment for protection, but if further
disturbed, they made off with the running and hopping gait already
described. Although they were not swift, they were elusive because of
their sudden changes of direction and the ease with which they found
shelter. When actually grasped, a frog would struggle only momentarily,
then would become limp with its legs extended. The viscous dermal
secretions copiously produced by a frog being handled made the animal so
slippery that after a few seconds it might slide from the captor's
grasp, and always was quick to escape when such an opportunity was
presented.
TEMPERATURE RELATIONSHIPS
Ant-eating frogs are active over a temperature range of at least 16° C.
to 37.6° C. They tolerate high temperatures that would be lethal to many
other kinds of amphibians, but are more sensitive to low temperatures
than any of the other local species, and as a result their seasonal
schedule resembles that of the larger lizards and snakes more than those
of other local amphibians. The latter become active earlier in the
spring.
Earliest recorded dates when the frogs were found active in the course
of the present study from 1950 to 1955 were in April every year; the
20th, 25th, 24th, 2nd, 25th, and 21st. Latest dates when the frogs were
found in the six years of the study were: October 22, 1949; October 13,
1950; October 7, 1951; August 24, 1952; August 18, 1953; and October 27,
1954 (excluding two late stragglers caught in a pitfall on December 5).
Severe drought caused unseasonably early retirement in 1952 and 1953.
Body temperatures of the frogs were taken with a small mercury
thermometer of the type described by Bogert (1949: 197); the bulb was
used to force open the mouth and was thrust down the gullet into the
stomach. To prevent conduction of heat from the hand, the frog was held
down through several layers of cloth, at the spot where it was
discovered, until the temperature reading could be made. This required
approximately five seconds.
[Illustration: FIG. 1. Temperatures of ant-eating frogs grouped in
one-degree intervals; upper figure is of frogs found active in the open,
and lower is of those found under shelter. The frogs are active over a
temperature range of more than 20 degrees, and show no clear cut
preference within this range.]
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