Current Herpetol. 20(2) 2001 



Fig. 3. Liwnonectes cf. keralensis female from Talagini (A), Philaiitiis cf. travancoriciis male 

 from Kudremukh (B), and P. cf. bombayensis male from Kudremukh (C). 



■'4 M ' Mil l 







1 . 



0. 5 



TIME (SEC) 



Fig. 4. An advertisement call of Limnonectes 

 cf. keralensis recorded in Kudremukh at 22°C. 



The first note (0.08 sec in duration) was 

 longer than the rest and showed a clear 

 harmonic spectral structure with a mean 

 fundamental frequency of 1.73 kHz. 

 The second harmonic band was domi- 

 nant and this band corresponded to the 

 dominant band of the rest of the notes 

 (3.59±0.13 kHz). In some calls, frequency 

 modulation in the first note (shown in 

 Fig. 4) was not so obvious. 



Males were calling on the banks of 

 ditches. When two males were calling side 

 by side they emitted advertisement calls 

 alternately as in L. limnocharis. A female 

 collected on 3 July 1999 had mature ova 

 in the ovary; the ova were pigmented and 

 small like those of L. limnocharis. 



4. Limnonectes syhadrensis 



The advertisement calls of this small 

 species were recorded in Kadri, Padil, 



and Bhatkal. The calls from Kadri and 

 Bhatkal consisted of a series of notes 

 with a dominant frequency at about 

 3.8 kHz (Fig. 5A). The notes at the pos- 

 terior portion of a call tended to be 

 divided into several pulse groups. The 

 number of notes and the note repetition 

 rate were significantly greater in Bhatkal 

 than in Kadri (Table 2). This may reflect 

 a difference in breeding urge of the call- 

 ing males. 



The structure of calls recorded in 

 Padil differed remarkably (Fig. 5B). 

 The call consisted of a series of long 

 notes (about 0.3 sec in duration) with 

 fine spectral bands. Although we could 

 not record the calls showing the transi- 

 tion from the multi-note call to the long- 

 note call, it is probable that the finely 

 pulsed notes at the posterior part of the 

 former become fused or elongated to 

 produce the latter. 



Males were calling on the ground or 

 among pebbles near the water edge. 

 Apparently this frog lays eggs in temporary 

 water bodies produced by rain, but the 

 small water bodies thus produced may 

 persist long enough for larval development 

 during the rainy season. 



A female collected in Padil (17.5 mm in 

 SVL) laid 44 eggs in a bottle. The eggs 

 were pigmented and about 1.4 mm in 

 diameter. The jelly capsules were rela- 

 tively hard and the capsules adhered to 

 each other. The relatively large ovum 

 size and the nature of the jelly capsules 



