Intra- and interpopulational variation in advertisement and release calls, and calling behavior were investigated in populations of the southwestern toad, Bufo microscaphus, in Arizona, California, and Utah. In populations from Arizona, chorusing activity was initiated independent of recent rainfall and usually occurred for a total of a few weeks each year. In a population of B. m. microscaphus from central Arizona, pulse rate and duration of the advertisement call were significantly correlated with temperature, but frequency was not influenced by temperature over a 5 C range. Dominant frequency of the advertisement call was not significantly correlated with snout-vent length within this single population. Temperature-adjusted pulse rate did not vary significantly among the populations, including B. m. californicus. Additionally, for both call duration and frequency, B. m. californicus was not significantly different from two of the three eastern populations of B. m. microscaphus. It appears that these taxa share specific mate recognition systems.
Established in 1936, Herpetologica is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal serving herpetologists, biologists, ecologists, conservationists, researchers and the scientific community. The journal contains original research papers and essays about the biology of reptiles and amphibians, and covers many relevant topics including: behavior, conservation, ecology, genetics, morphology, physiology and taxonomy.
The Herpetologists' League (HL), established in 1946, is an international organization committed to furthering the knowledge of herpetology—the study of amphibians and reptiles. The Herpetologists’ League publishes two scholarly journals—the quarterly Herpetologica and the annual supplement, Herpetological Monographs. Mission: The Herpetologists’ League exists to promote scientific study and conservation of amphibians and reptiles. The primary goals of the League are to support the acquisition of knowledge about these organisms, and to transmit that knowledge through publications, conferences, and symposia. Activities sponsored by the League are designed to engage and encourage young scientists to join our mission. The products of the Herpetologists' League contribute to the global effort to understand and conserve the biological diversity on Earth.
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