Middle American Frogs of the Hyla microcephala GroupDuellman, William Edward
Science
Middle American Frogs of the Hyla microcephala Group
Duellman, William Edward
Frogs -- Central America; Hyla microcephala
Although all skulls examined belong to breeding adults, the extent of
the ossification of the frontoparietals and the resulting shape of the
frontoparietal fontanelle might be correlated with the age of the frog.
Nevertheless, in the 24 skulls of _Hyla microcephala_ examined, the
frontoparietals are less extensively ossified than in the skulls of the
other species. The trivial differences among the other three species
certainly are suggestive of close relationship, but on the basis of
present knowledge of the evolutionary trends in hylid cranial
osteology, the differences offer little evidence for determining
phylogenetic lineage.
ANALYSIS OF MATING CALLS
Calls of all five taxa were compared in several characteristics, of
which three are deemed most significant systematically. These are
1) the pattern and duration of the notes of a call-group, 2) the
fundamental frequency, and 3) the dominant frequency. Air temperatures
were noted at the time the calls were recorded, but no valid
correlation could be determined between this factor and any of the
parameters of the calls; consequently recordings made at all
temperatures (21-29° C.) were grouped together.
_Pattern and duration of notes._--In all five taxa the basic pattern
consists of a call-group made up of one primary note followed by a
series of shorter secondary notes. In some species the secondary notes
differ from the primary in other characteristics. Both subspecies of
_Hyla microcephala_ have a long, unpaired primary note followed by 0
to 18 (usually about 4) somewhat shorter paired secondary notes. In
calls of _Hyla m. microcephala_ the mean duration of the primary is
0.131 (0.10-0.16) second and that of the secondaries is 0.101
(0.05-0.14) second, whereas in _H. m. underwoodi_ the mean duration of
the primary is 0.018 (0.05-0.15) second and that of the secondaries is
0.086 (0.06-0.11) second.
_Hyla robertmertensi_ has a reverse of this pattern in that the primary
note is paired and the secondaries are unpaired. In the sample studied
a call-group contains 0-28 secondary notes (generally about 3). The
mean duration of the primary is 0.091 (0.07-0.11) second and that of
the secondaries is 0.040 (0.025-0.06) second.
_Hyla phlebodes_ and _sartori_ have call-groups composed of a rather
short, unpaired primary and several short, unpaired secondaries
(0-28 in _phlebodes_, 0-23 in _sartori_). The mean duration of the
primary of _phlebodes_ is 0.105 (0.07-0.16) second and that of the
secondaries is 0.067 (0.035-0.12) second. The mean duration of the
primary of _sartori_ is 0.080 (0.07-0.09) second and that of the
secondaries is 0.053 (0.035-0.07) second.
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