Rich Peet wrote:
> I think I am winning and if I do then I won't let anyone forget it..
I'm not sure what this is about.
Paul Moler's description of these looking similar to Eastern Narrowmouth
Toads was correct. I'm in possession of three of them, having, with
Justin, just got back from a long round trip to S Georgia back to the
pool to collect them.
They and the narrowmouths were calling poorly, but both were calling,
only at dusk and later. Same as before, separate locations for the two
calls. Justin and I started stalking. After several failures, they are
still far more wary than narrowmouths, I spotted one calling at the edge
of a small pile of concrete rubble pieces that I'd heard several call
from, and no narrowmouths. This rubble pile was well away from the
water, damp sand under it. Small pieces, about hand size or less, but
with lots of cracks and so on to hide in. With careful removal of the
pieces we got the exact frog. Which lead to the first new difference.
These are like narrowmouths on steroids, way faster running. Even with
two of us this was not a easy frog to catch.
Placed into a critter keeper, we found that he could walk right up the
walls, which narrowmouths don't do. The narrowmouths we collected there
stayed in the bottom of the critterkeeper, not this guy.
We also got the impression of a difference in the color of the sides,
but are not so sure on that. This looks like a narrowmouth, maybe a
little shortened in length, biggest visual difference is a belly that's
more clear of markings. Narrowmouths caught at our site all have small
spots across their belly. I've not taken a detailed look again since
getting back, they are in wet leaves and such like. Photos may or may
not reveal what we saw last night.
Anyway, after admiring our catch we decided to put the pieces we had
taken off the pile back. And spotted another, which after a wild chase
was caught. Just like the first. Then we started systematically taking
the 2' diameter pile apart. The next two got away at high speed, but we
got one more. Then reassembled the pile.
We also brought back two for sure narrowmouth toads, caught in the act
of calling the standard call. They will be needed for the genetic
comparison. We had placed the critterkeepers in a empty ice chest with
the lid propped cracked open. All last night and today on the way back
the two narrowmouths kept happily calling. The new guys never called.
I'll photograph all of them today, then turn them over to the real
experts for testing. The definitive answer about these will have to come
from genetic testing. We could be dealing with something like the Cope's
Grays vs Versicolor Grays. That pairing look identical, but versicolor
has twice the chromosomes of Cope's. So they are two species only told
apart in the field by the call.
Paul Moler was unwilling to call these Eastern Narrowmouth Toads, but
only Gastrophryne.
> I also think I found the same sound in some of the Eastern
> Narrowmouth Toads that I recorded around Victoria TX in 7/2002. It
> was wet when I was there and the Red Cross shared our motel as they
> did flood relief.
>
> listen to 800 kb file especially around 50 seconds into it at:
> http://home.comcast.net/~richpeet/txtoad.mp3
>
> exact location and equipment available upon request.
>
> Rich Peet
Did you actually catch the callers? Or just record them? If you saw
them, or observed their behavior, how much did it agree with what I've
found.
It does sound very similar. Sonogram looks right too. Being found in
association with Eastern Narrowmouth toads is the same as with Paul
Moler and I.
If so it would mean between the two of us we have three documented
locations. I don't know what all documentation Paul Moler has. From his
letter he would love to wrap up this mystery, so would I.
I have no idea just how long it will take to get results back on
testing. It took over a month to filter back on the Cope's X
Bird-voiced. Have yet to talk to them. When we do get results I expect
it's going to be darned closely related to Eastern Narrowmouths, if not
within their genetic variation. Having personally been out in the field
with them listening critically, now twice, and having seen them and how
they behave, I'm still unwilling to just dismiss these as a variant call
of Eastern Narrowmouths. I've listened to a large number of narrowmouths
across the state. This call is simply not there normally. I'm certainly
going to be listening to narrowmouth locations more carefully.
Tracking down the cause of consistent oddball calls is one of the next
tasks with frogs. At least in the stuff I do. I hear oddball calls on
nearly every trip, but usually one individual, and then never hear
another one. Even with one individual I'll track down the frog to have a
looksee if I can. In most cases the oddball caller is easy to figure out
as he's calling with others of his species, though he may not get responses=
.
I know genetic testing is making lots of changes in our understanding of
frogs. Our system of identification based on visual markers and such
like is being put to the test and some things will definitely change.
Walt
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