Weinand Wildlife
Fehlpaarung: Moorfrosch (Rana arvalis) x Erdkröte (Bufo bufo)
Heterospecific mating attempts (a form of reproductive interference) are a well known phenomenon in anuran explosive breeders.
Notorious is the breeding frenzy of male common toads (Bufo bufo) which - in their scrambling for mates - not only form mating balls sometimes drowning unlucky females in the process, but also grab onto each other, syntopic anuran species, salamanders and other animate and inanimate objects. Toads have been observed clinging to a carp's forehead, drowning a water vole or hugging a clump of mud. Even a human hand will do.
Male moor frogs (Rana arvalis) on the other hand have developed a sky blue nuptial colouration which seems to serve as a visual cue enabling them to not waste time and energy in amplexus with each other during scrambling competition. This however doesn't keep them from wasting their resources clinging onto other non-blue stuff.
This is the one presentable shot I brought with me from a trip to Northern Germany in the first half of April which for various reasons had a lot less photography going on than I would normally have wished. Male R. arvalis only keep up their nuptial colouration for a few days each year and I've never seen them live during this phase.
This time, most of the spawning business was already done when I got there and the males had lost most of their colour, leaving only a blue tint on their brownish bodies a bit less intense than the picture suggests. However I was thoroughly stoked to discover these star crossed lovers, now being the second heterospecific mating attempt between anurans I could observe in the field.
Abgrabung bei Trappenkamp.
Fehlpaarung: Moorfrosch (Rana arvalis) x Erdkröte (Bufo bufo)
Heterospecific mating attempts (a form of reproductive interference) are a well known phenomenon in anuran explosive breeders.
Notorious is the breeding frenzy of male common toads (Bufo bufo) which - in their scrambling for mates - not only form mating balls sometimes drowning unlucky females in the process, but also grab onto each other, syntopic anuran species, salamanders and other animate and inanimate objects. Toads have been observed clinging to a carp's forehead, drowning a water vole or hugging a clump of mud. Even a human hand will do.
Male moor frogs (Rana arvalis) on the other hand have developed a sky blue nuptial colouration which seems to serve as a visual cue enabling them to not waste time and energy in amplexus with each other during scrambling competition. This however doesn't keep them from wasting their resources clinging onto other non-blue stuff.
This is the one presentable shot I brought with me from a trip to Northern Germany in the first half of April which for various reasons had a lot less photography going on than I would normally have wished. Male R. arvalis only keep up their nuptial colouration for a few days each year and I've never seen them live during this phase.
This time, most of the spawning business was already done when I got there and the males had lost most of their colour, leaving only a blue tint on their brownish bodies a bit less intense than the picture suggests. However I was thoroughly stoked to discover these star crossed lovers, now being the second heterospecific mating attempt between anurans I could observe in the field.
Abgrabung bei Trappenkamp.