Aglyptodactylus securifer found at night on main road leading to bat caves at entrance to Ankarana
For further information, to see additional images or to enquire about using my photos, feel free to contact me via www.madagascar-photography.com
For further information, to see additional images or to enquire about using my photos, feel free to contact me via www.madagascar-photography.com
I witnessed this explosive breeding spectacle in two consecutive years (both times mid-December - see http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/36088) at Montagne d'Ambre. There were thousands of bright yellow frogs mating noisily in a very shallow pool (video clip with audio available on request).
What puzzles me is that in all the literature concerning all species of Aglyptodactylus, it says that breeding MALES turn yellow (to a greater or lesser degree depending on species) yet in the population I observed clearly BOTH sexes turn yellow.
A. madagascariensis and A securifer are both known from Montagne d'Ambre. My justification for identifying these specimens as the latter is that Glaw & Vences (2007) say the breeding males are 'bright yellow', whereas in the former species they are only described as 'partly yellowish'. However, they were observed in rainforest habitat, which is not typically the domain of A. securifer. I am wondering if these could represent an undescribed species of Aglyptodactylus.
For further information, to see additional images or to enquire about using my photos, feel free to contact me via www.madagascar-photography.com
I witnessed this explosive breeding spectacle in two consecutive years (both times mid-December - see http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/36714) at Montagne d'Ambre. There were thousands of bright yellow frogs mating noisily in a very shallow pool (video clip with audio available on request).
What puzzles me is that in all the literature concerning all species of Aglyptodactylus, it says that breeding MALES turn yellow (to a greater or lesser degree depending on species) yet in the population I observed clearly BOTH sexes turn yellow.
A. madagascariensis and A securifer are both known from Montagne d'Ambre. My justification for identifying these specimens as the latter is that Glaw & Vences (2007) say the breeding males are 'bright yellow', whereas in the former species they are only described as 'partly yellowish'. However, they were observed in rainforest habitat, which is not typically the domain of A. securifer. I am wondering if these could represent an undescribed species of Aglyptodactylus.
For further information, to see additional images or to enquire about using my photos, feel free to contact me via www.madagascar-photography.com
Mating couple. Interestingly the period of the year when I photographed this species was not the idoneous (as I believed) for reproductive activity
A calling male. This is attributed to A. securifer, although further analyses are necessary.
Aglyptodactylus securifer is a species of frog in the Mantellidae family. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marches. It is threatened by habitat loss.
