Review of bioacoustical traits in the genus Physalaemus Fitzinger, 1826 (Anura: Leptodactylidae: Leiuperinae)
Author
Hepp, Fábio
Author
Pombal, José P.
text
Zootaxa
2020
2020-01-20
4725
1
1
106
journal article
24303
10.11646/zootaxa.4725.1.1
67d90a4f-f853-4561-ae9a-c0f596d948ca
1175-5326
3612996
B137F19A-2C50-476C-8F13-4F049253B361
Physalaemus olfersii
(Lichtenstein & Martens, 1856)
We found a single call
type
for the species, referred to as call A. The call is composed of a single harmonic note with a very long duration and a slight PAM (no silence intervals between pulses). It has an irregular and strong PFM throughout the call. The bands have no general FM or have only a slight FM, which is usually upward.
Call A (
Fig. 44
A–D and 42C).
We examined 13 recordings, a total of 35 minutes, with 332 calls from
31 males
. Only some of these calls were measured (see
Table 2
). Call duration varies from 3.530 to
4.837 s
. Call rise and fall are very short and similar to each other in duration. The limit between the call rise and sustain is not clear in calls with triangular envelope (
Fig. 44A
). There is a long sustain. This segment is usually regular and almost flat (slightly decreasing towards end of the segment –
Fig. 44C
), but some calls have very inclined sustains, where the beginning of the segment has low amplitude and gradually increases towards its end (
Fig. 44A
). The amplitude peak is at around the end of the first tenth or at the very end of the call duration. The envelope of the call varies from rectangular (
Fig. 44C
) to triangular (pointed left;
Fig. 44A
). More than 50 % of the call energy is concentrated in 46 % of the call duration around the amplitude peak. The call can have a slight PAM (silence intervals are absent between peaks). The rate of the PAM is
ca.
11 Hz, forming
ca.
50 cycles throughout the call. The cycle rise and fall are similar and the amplitude peak is at the middle of the cycle duration. The call has a harmonic series (
Fig. 42C
). The fundamental frequency is
ca.
150 Hz. The first seven harmonics have very low energy or are absent in the audiospectrogram. There are
ca.
12 adjacent emphasized harmonics. The wave periods are usually regular and harmonics are clear throughout the call. However, some calls have deterministic chaos regimes in several parts, mainly at their outset (
Fig. 44B
). The dominant frequency varies from
ca
.
1570 to 1870
Hz (
Fig. 44B
). The dominant harmonic varies from the ninth to the 19
th
, but it is usually between the ninth and 12
th
(
Fig. 42C
). There is no clear shift in the relative energy between the bands throughout the call. Most of the call energy is between
1100 and 2150
Hz (12 harmonics). Calls have no general FM (
Fig. 44D
), or have only a slight general FM, usually upward (
Fig. 44B
), but sometimes downward. There is usually a short downward FM at the end of the call (
Fig. 44B
). Additionally, there is a strong PFM throughout the call, which is usually independent, but it is directly proportional and synchronic to PAM when it is present (
Fig. 44B, D
).