New Observations of Telmatobufo australis (Anura, Leptodactylidae) in Southern Chile

Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles

New Observations of Telmatobufo australis (Anura, Leptodactylidae) in Southern ChileAuthor(s): J. R. Formas and E. PuginSource: Journal of Herpetology, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Jul. 30, 1979), pp. 359-361Published by: Society for the Study of Amphibians and ReptilesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1563334 .

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NOTES NOTES

were not found to be a part of the stimulus. Furthermore, the heat produced by the electric light bulb was not found to contribute to the stimulus.

We performed 20 trials on 4 individual snakes. The frequency of the trials was limited to two or three per day due to the food requirements of the snake, as mentioned above. During the first 3-5 times the device was operated in each trial 10-20 times by the mouse running back and forth along the tilt-table. The number of mice which were caught immediately after turning on the light, increased with the increasing number of trials. Each trial was started when the snake was at a distance of about 50 cm from the opening of the device and its head was turned away from the direction of the device (Fig. 2a). All the snakes eventually responded immediately to the light by turning their heads toward the light. Repeating the experiment, but without the reinforcement, the mouse, we found that after three such consecutive trials the response of the snakes extinguished. Nevertheless, after three days of starvation, only about two trials (with reinforcement) were sufficient for reestablishing the response of the snakes.

The above findings lead us to the conclusion that this snake can be easly conditioned, by using this method.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.-The author thanks Proff. E. Kochba for encouragement in perform- ing these experiments, Dr. B. Gavish, S. Lifshitz and Z. Blumstein for their technical help, and Mrs. A. Auerbach for her help in preparing this manuscript.

LITERATURE CITED

Crawford, F. T. and Bartlett, C. W. 1966. Runway behavior of the gray rat snake with food and water reinforcement. Psychonomic Science, 4:99-100.

and Holmes, C. E. 1966. Escape conditioning in snakes employing vibratory stimulation. Psychonomic Science, 4:125-126.

Hilgard, E. R. and Marquis, D. G. (Revised by Kimble G. A.) 1968. Conditioning and Learning. New York, Appleton-Century- Crofts, Inc.

Kellogg, W. N. and Pomeroy, W. B. 1936. Maze learning in water snakes. J. of Comparative Psychology, 21:275-295. Kleinginna, P. R. Jr. 1970. Operant conditioning in the indigo snake Psychonomic Science, 18(1):53-55. Takemosa, T. and Nakamura, K. 1935. A learning experiment with snakes. Kyoiku Shinri Kerkyu, 10:575-581. Wolfle, D. L. and Brown, C. S. 1940. A learning experiment with snakes. Copeia, 2:134.

LEAH GAVISH, Department of Zoology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Present Address: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dep. of Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution, 515 Morrill Hall, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.

Accepted 16 Nov 1978 Copyright 1979 Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles 1979 JOURNAL OF HtHt I OLOGY 13(3):357-359

NEW OBSERVATIONS OF TELMATOBUFO AUSTRALIS (ANURA, LEPTO- DACTYLIDAE) IN SOUTHERN CHILE

Telmatobufo australis was described by Formas (1972) on the basis of a male, three juveniles and six tadpoles from Cordillera Pelada, Valdivia Province, Southern Chile. During the course of an investigation on the reproduction of the frogs of the Nothofagus forest, an adult male (Fig. 1) with nuptial asperities was collected at the type locality on 14 March 1978. This specimen (IZUA 1778-A) is remarkably larger (Table 1) than the holotype (IZUA 934-A). Other differences include the well

were not found to be a part of the stimulus. Furthermore, the heat produced by the electric light bulb was not found to contribute to the stimulus.

We performed 20 trials on 4 individual snakes. The frequency of the trials was limited to two or three per day due to the food requirements of the snake, as mentioned above. During the first 3-5 times the device was operated in each trial 10-20 times by the mouse running back and forth along the tilt-table. The number of mice which were caught immediately after turning on the light, increased with the increasing number of trials. Each trial was started when the snake was at a distance of about 50 cm from the opening of the device and its head was turned away from the direction of the device (Fig. 2a). All the snakes eventually responded immediately to the light by turning their heads toward the light. Repeating the experiment, but without the reinforcement, the mouse, we found that after three such consecutive trials the response of the snakes extinguished. Nevertheless, after three days of starvation, only about two trials (with reinforcement) were sufficient for reestablishing the response of the snakes.

The above findings lead us to the conclusion that this snake can be easly conditioned, by using this method.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.-The author thanks Proff. E. Kochba for encouragement in perform- ing these experiments, Dr. B. Gavish, S. Lifshitz and Z. Blumstein for their technical help, and Mrs. A. Auerbach for her help in preparing this manuscript.

LITERATURE CITED

Crawford, F. T. and Bartlett, C. W. 1966. Runway behavior of the gray rat snake with food and water reinforcement. Psychonomic Science, 4:99-100.

and Holmes, C. E. 1966. Escape conditioning in snakes employing vibratory stimulation. Psychonomic Science, 4:125-126.

Hilgard, E. R. and Marquis, D. G. (Revised by Kimble G. A.) 1968. Conditioning and Learning. New York, Appleton-Century- Crofts, Inc.

Kellogg, W. N. and Pomeroy, W. B. 1936. Maze learning in water snakes. J. of Comparative Psychology, 21:275-295. Kleinginna, P. R. Jr. 1970. Operant conditioning in the indigo snake Psychonomic Science, 18(1):53-55. Takemosa, T. and Nakamura, K. 1935. A learning experiment with snakes. Kyoiku Shinri Kerkyu, 10:575-581. Wolfle, D. L. and Brown, C. S. 1940. A learning experiment with snakes. Copeia, 2:134.

LEAH GAVISH, Department of Zoology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Present Address: College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dep. of Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution, 515 Morrill Hall, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.

Accepted 16 Nov 1978 Copyright 1979 Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles 1979 JOURNAL OF HtHt I OLOGY 13(3):357-359

NEW OBSERVATIONS OF TELMATOBUFO AUSTRALIS (ANURA, LEPTO- DACTYLIDAE) IN SOUTHERN CHILE

Telmatobufo australis was described by Formas (1972) on the basis of a male, three juveniles and six tadpoles from Cordillera Pelada, Valdivia Province, Southern Chile. During the course of an investigation on the reproduction of the frogs of the Nothofagus forest, an adult male (Fig. 1) with nuptial asperities was collected at the type locality on 14 March 1978. This specimen (IZUA 1778-A) is remarkably larger (Table 1) than the holotype (IZUA 934-A). Other differences include the well

359 359



NOTES

TABLE 1. Measurements of holotype of T. australis compared to those of IZUA 1778-A (in mm).

Snout vent length Head width Head length Thigh length Shank length Foot length Paratoid length Eye diameter

Eye-nostril distance Nostril-snout distance Internarial width Interorbital width

Holotype

IZUA 934-A IZUA 1778-A

40.0 70.6 18.0 27.0 19.0 23.0 18.0 33.4 16.0 30.8 21.0 52.2

6.1 11.0 5.9 8.2 3.7 5.3 3.9 5.5 4.9 8.3 4.4 7.0

FIGURE 1. Telmatobufo australis, adult male.

TABLE 2. Measurements (ranges and means) of developmental stages of tadpoles of Telmatobufo australis.

Body length Total length Stage N (mm) (mm)

27 3 19.1-21.2 (20.4) 45.0-47.2 (46.1) 28 3 19.0-22.0 (20.8) 45.0-50.7 (48.2) 32 2 23.0-24.5 (23.7) 54.0-57.5 (55.7) 33 1 25.0 58.7 34 1 27.0 60.3 36 2 30.0-30.2 (30.1) 61.7-64.0 (62.8) 37 2 29.0-31.0 (30.0) 65.4-67.0 (66.2) 38 1 30.0 68.1 43 1 30.0 64.0 44 1 30.0 60.0

developed tarsal fold (small in the holotype), webbed toes (Fig. 2), interdigital membrane extending to the tip of the toes (more reduced in the holotype) and the flattened paratoid glands (rounded in the holotype). In alcohol, the venter of the holotype is gray with irregular dark mottl- ing but this area of the new collected frog is whitish. The nuptial excrescences of T. australis are made up of a cluster of large spines on the dorsal surface of the thumb (Fig. 2), a group of rounded spines under the paratoid gland and two rows of spines on the lower mandible. Telmatobufo venustus has the same pattern of nuptial excrescences (Pefaur, 1971) as T. australis; however the former species shows large spines on the ventral surface on the thumb, which are absent on T. australis.

During the course of field work in the temperate forests of Southern Chile tadpoles of T. australis were seen and collected in un- reported places: 1) Near Chiveria, 30 km (by road) W La Union city, 12 February 1978 (observed by C. Jara, Instituto de Zoologia Uni- versidad Austral), 2) Llancahue, 7 km (by road) E of Valdivia city (observed by J. R. Formas), 11 December 1976, and 3) Riachuelo El Rebelde, 37 km (air line) SE of Panguipulli city, 23 October 1975 (IZUA 1562-A, one specimen). The latter tadpole was collected in a fast moving stream (150 cm deep, 10?C and 11,2 mg/l 02). Additional tadpoles (17) were found at the type locality (Cordillera Pelada) (IZUA 1789-A) and the measurements of developmental stages, according to Gosner (1960), are indicated in Table 2.

The chromosomes of T. australis were described by Formas and Espinoza (1975). On the basis of ten mitotic plates from intestines of larvae (using the squash technique) the karyotype of T. australis is briefly redescribed be- cause differences were found in relation to the first description. The chromosomes were named according to the nomenclature used by Bogart (1970). The formula 2n = 26 is seen in all mitotic plates. All the chromosomes have two arms and the Fundamental Number (FN) is 52. The karyotype (Fig. 3) is made up by six pairs of large chromosomes pairs (1-6) clearly differ- entiated from seven small pairs. Pairs 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 are metacentric (m); pairs 3, 4 and 6 are subtelocentric (st). Pairs 3, 6 and 7 show secondary constrictions in the smaller arm. In the first described karyotype,

360



NOTES

b 1 2 3 4 5 6 ( i usn ii? H ^^^~ A ~A, XR X& XX XX Xs ta

10mm 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

FIGURE 3. Karyotype of Telmatobufo australis. The line

^^ Ct ~~~ ll'^B^Si^ equals 10 /m.

v10mm j secondary constrictions were only observed on pair 6 and pairs 3, 4 and 5 were metacentric, submetacentric and subtelocentric respectively.

A^^^|i&:~ ~Here, pairs 3 and 4 were detected as subtelocentric and pair 5 as metacentric. In terms of

5mm number (2n = 26), Fundamental Number (NF 52) and morphology, the karyotype of T.

FIGURE 2. Ventral aspect of left hand (A), and foot (B) and australis is very similar to the karyotype of T. dorsal aspect of the right thumb (C).

venustus described by Venegas (1975). Both species share seven small pairs of metacentric

chromosomes, three large pairs of subtelocentric chromosomes and two large pairs of metacentric chromosomes. The two karyotypes are only different in the morphology of pair two (metacentric in T. australis and submetacentric in T. venustus). Although no secondary constrictions were described by Venegas (1975) the karyotype presented by this authour shows two secondary constrictions on two large submetacentric chromosomes and a secondary constrictions on a small metacentric pair. In relation to the secondary constrictions, the karyotype of Telmatobufo venustus is similar to the Telmatobufo australis's karyotype.

LITERATURE CITED

Bogart, J. P. 1970. Systematic problems in the amphibian family Leptodactylidae (Anura) as indicated by karyotypic analysis. Cytogenetics 9:369-383.

Formas, J. R. 1972. A second species of Chilean frog genus Telmatobufo (Anura, Leptodactylidae). J. Herpetol. 6:1-3. Formas, J. R. and N. D. Espinoza. 1975. Karyological relationships of frogs of the genus Telmatobufo (Anura: Leptodactylidae).

Herpetologica 4:429-432. Gosner, K. L. 1960. A simplified table for staging anuran embryos and larvae with notes on identification. Herpetologica

16:183-190. Pefaur, J. 1971. Nota sobre Telmatobufo bullocki SCHMIDT (Anura, Leptodactylidae). Bol. Mus. Nac. Hist. Nat. Chile

32:215-225. Venegas, W. 1975. Los cromosomas de Aruncus venustus (Philippi) 1899 (= Telmatobufo bullocki Schmidt, 1952) Amphibia,

Anura. Bol. Soc. Biol. de Concepcion 49:71-77.

J. R. FORMAS, Institute of Zoology and E. PUGIN, Institute of Embriology, Universidad Austral de Chile Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile.

Accepted 5 Apr 1979 Copyright 1979 Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles 1979 JOURNAL OF HERPETOLOGY 13(3):359-361

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New Observations of Telmatobufo australis (Anura, Leptodactylidae) in Southern Chile