Bioacoustics of Limnodynastes superciliaris

Ecology.— Males congregate and call around static-water wetlands, wallums, swamps, and dams where they call while floating in water or secreted beneath vegetation at the water’s edge. According to FrogID data, the species is most often recorded calling from streams, creeks, and dams. The peak calling period is from September to November, with some reduced calling activity from December to March. The majority of FrogID recordings of L. superciliaris have been recorded in natural and rural areas, with few recordings from suburban and urban landscapes. Stomach contents of museum specimens included a wide variety of invertebrate prey, including spiders, centipedes, beetles, earthworms, and ants (predominantly Myrmecia spp. ). The species burrows into loose, sandy soils during unfavorable weather conditions and appears capable of remaining in aestivation for months at a time. For tadpole identification and development, see L. dumerilii grayi section in Anstis (2017) .

Redescription of holotype .— Described from high-resolution images of the preserved specimen after more than 158 years in preservative. Habitus moderately stout and robust. Dorsum and ventral surface smooth. Head large, broadest at tympanum and wider than long. Head appears rounded from above and largely flat in profile, sloping abruptly at the snout. Nostrils are slightly raised and outward-facing. Eyes large and concealed, tympanum indistinct. Arms and legs short and moderately slender, tibial gland prominent, oval-shaped and approximately 60% length of tibia. Four fingers and five toes, all rounded, slender and tapering without terminal discs. Webbing on fingers absent and reduced to a vestigial trace on toes ( Fig. 10 ), no trace of a distended spatula on 2 nd finger, indicating specimen is male. Subarticular tubercles prominent on fingers and toes, metacarpal tubercles prominent, inner-metatarsal tubercle also prominent, wedge-shaped and slightly longer than the first toe. Soles of feet smoothly textured. Many small, raised tubercles of varying sizes scattered on posterior edge of thighs and cloaca. Color in preservative.— Dorsal surface medium brown with a mosaic of lighter and darker brown, cream or yellow paravertebral lines, blotches, and spots. Distinct light cream-yellow vertebral stripe. Pattern transitions to a complex light cream-yellow and dark brown stippling on lateral surface and then completely pale cream, almost translucent on the ventral surface. Prominent cream subaural gland running from below eye to shoulder, with broad dark brown band running through eye. Upper surface of arms and legs consists of complex pattern of light and dark brown, cream-yellow blotches and spots, tending darkest inside the thigh. Posterior edge of forearm with cream stripe. Lower surface of arms and legs pale cream, almost translucent. Raised tubercles around cloaca and posterior edge of thighs, cream-yellow. Slightly darkened throat pigment indicating the specimen is male. Taxon n Dominant frequency (kHz) Call duration (s) Call rate (calls/min) Fundamental frequency (kHz) CYP lineage 5 0.8 6 0.2 (0.6 – 1.1) 0.10 6 0.014 (0.08 – 0.12) 38.15 6 25.18 (12.72 – 72.06) 0.5 6 0 (0.5 – 0.6) WS lineage 41 0.9 6 0.2 (0.6 – 1.3) 0.09 6 0.02 (0.05 – 0.14) 31.58 6 20.54 (4.74 – 89.67) 0.6 6 0.1 (0.4 – 0.7) EC lineage 19 1.2 6 0.3 (0.5 – 1.5) 0.07 6 0.03 (0.04 – 0.12) 23.69 6 17.25 (5.36 – 75.52) 0.6 6 0.1 (0.5 – 0.8) Variation.— Summary of variation in morphometric characters for each sex is presented in Table 6 and Figure 5 . Color and pattern variation (in life).— Variation in color is described from images of genotyped specimens taken in life. Ventral surface plain, unpatterned cream anteriorly to translucent pearl posteriorly. Vocal sac often darker yellowbrown and mottled in males. Distinct scarlet patches absent from inguinal region and legs. Dorsal surface dark to light brown with rose-gold or crimson tinge, often with longitudinally aligned paravertebral stripes blotches or mottling. Red-light brown vertebral stripe present and distinct, broken, faded, or absent. Lateral zone light brown fading to cream-white ventrally with transition often marked by a zone of gray, black, and yellow, or cream spots and mottling. Posterior thigh flash black with gray, cream, yellow or orange mottling or blotching. Soles of feet light to dark brown with gray or cream speckling. Lateral edge of foot with yellow to brown cream stripe. Shoulders with yellow, cream, brown, or gold patch, forearm darker gray or brown and usually mottled. Light brown, cream, or gold subaural gland with dark gray to black stripe above extending from rostrum through eye to edge of subaural gland. Advertisement call.— The advertisement call description of L. superciliaris is based on the calls of 19 individuals from the Sydney Basin bioregion. The advertisement call consists of a single, resonant note. Individuals had a mean dominant frequency of 0.5–1.5 kHz, and a mean fundamental frequency of 0.5–0.8 kHz. On average, advertisement calls had a duration of 0.04– 0.12 s ( Table 7 ; Fig. 8 ).