Matting behavior in amphibians

1. MATTING BEHAVIOR
IN AMPHIBIANS
PRESENTED BY: MEHAK FATIMA
ROLL NO: 21011514-007

2. CONTENTS
 What is matting behavior?
 Matting behavior in frogs and toads
 Matting behavior in salamanders and newts
 Matting behavior in Caecilians

3. WHAT IS MATTING BEHAVIOR?
 The activities that are involved in reproduction, including
courtship, mate selection and copulation.
 Courtship is the suite of behaviors displayed by an
individual to attract and reproduce with an individual of
opposite sex.
 Copulation is the union of the sex organs of two
sexually reproducing animals for insemination and
subsequent internal fertilization.
 Mating is the pairing of opposite sex for the purpose of
sexual reproduction.

4. AMPHIBIANS
 Amphibians are four-limbed and
ectothermic vertebrates.
 They inhabit a wide variety of
habitats, with most species living
within terrestrial, fossorial or
freshwater aquatic ecosystems.
 Modern amphibians belong to
three orders: Caudata, the
salamanders; Anura, the frogs
and toads; and Gymnophiona, the
caecilians.

5. Courtship behaviors
 Acoustic signals
 Chemical signals
 Elaborate courtship displays

6. Mate selection:
Mate selection in amphibians can
involve different factors, such as
 Calling
 Size
 Color

7. VOCALIZATION
 Territorial calls
 Advertisement calls-
wrestling, head butting
or biting.
 Reciprocal calls
 Release calls

8. MATTING BEHAVIOR IN FROGS
 The common frog (Rana
temporaria) It can start mating as
early as late January or February,
depending on the weather.
 Male frogs croak to attract a mate
and to compete against other nearby
males. Each species has a unique
call, ranging from melodic trills to
repetitive croaks.
 When the male has selected a mate, it
uses swollen nuptial pads on its
forelegs to grasp the female, in a
mating behaviour known as
‘amplexus’.

9.  The male fertilizes the eggs
externally as the female lays
them. Spawning mostly occurs
at night and is rapid, lasting
seconds.
The female lays up to 2000
eggs in a gelatinous mass
called spawn. The spawn takes
on water and develops into
clear jelly with black centres.
Spawn takes 8–10 days to
hatch.

10. Bombay night frog(Nyctibatrachus humayuni)
 The female frogs also call which may serve to
stimulate the males or to signal their receptivity.
 The male does not clasp the female, but rests
his hands on nearby substrates such as leaves,
branches. He also does not release his sperm
near the female’s cloaca but on her back.
 The female lays her eggs on a leaf or branch
overhanging water. The sperm trickles down
her back and fertilizes the eggs as they are laid
 It may have evolved to reduce the risk of
predation, parasitism or competition from other
males.

11. TOADS
 The common toad (Bufo bufo) is a later
breeder than the common frog. It usually mates
from March to April.
 The male toads produce a high-pitched trill to
attract females.
 Toads do not have nuptial pads, but use their
rear legs to kick away rival males
 Toads lay their eggs in long strings or chains.
 Toads secrete an irritant substance from their
skin and puff themselves up to deter predators
when they are mating.

12. Red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus)
 The male pheromones are produced by
the mental gland, located under the male
salamander's chin.
 The male delivers pheromones directly
to the female.
 No copulation occur. Males produce a
pyramidal, gelatinous spermatophore
that is capped with sperm and deposited
on the substrate.
 Females pick up the sperm cap with the
cloaca and store the sperm in a special
pouch, the spermatheca. Eggs are
fertilized as they pass through the cloaca
and are usually deposited singly, in
clumps, or in strings

13.  Depending on the species,
newts may have different
courtship behaviors.
 Some species, such as
the California newt and
the rough-skinned newt,
conduct a mating dance.
 Other species, such as
the alpine newt and
the smooth newt, rely on
pheromones to attract females..

14. Caecilians
 Caecilians are limbless, mostly blind
amphibians that belong to the order
Gymnophiona.
 They have a variety of reproductive
modes, ranging from laying eggs
that hatch into aquatic larvae, to
giving birth to live young.

15. MEXICAN CAECILIAN
 Mexican caecilian (Dermophis
mexicanus), gives birth to live
young.
 Courtship behavior involves tactile
stimulation.
 The male uses a phallodeum, to
transfer sperm into the female’s
reproductive tract.
 Larval stages are often passed
within the oviducts, where they
scrape the inner lining of the
oviducts with fetal teeth to feed.
 Young emerge from the female as
miniature adults.

16. RINGED CAECILIAN
 This is a ringed caecilian (Siphonops
annulatus), lays eggs.
 The male caecilian produces a pheromone
from his cloaca that attracts females. He
also displays his bright orange belly to the
female as he moves his tail from side to
side. He then places a spermatophore on
the substrate.
 The female then lays her eggs in a moist
burrow. The female guards her clutch of
eggs in a moist burrow until they hatch.

17. CONTINUE……
 Juveniles have a special tooth on
their lower jaw that helps them
break out of the egg membrane.
 The mother produces a special
layer of skin that is rich in lipids
for the young to eat. The young
have specialized teeth that allow
them to scrape off the skin from
their mother’s back immediately
after hatching.