Bioacoustics of Limnodynastes terraereginae

Redescription of holotype .— Habitus excessively stout. Dorsum textured with irregular tubercles, ventral surface smooth. Head large, broadest at tympanum, wider than long (HW/HL 1.25). Head appears rounded from above and in lateral profile. Nostrils slightly raised, outward-facing and not prominent in profile. Eyes large, bulbous and protruding, pupil round and tympanum indistinct. Arms and legs short and powerfully built, tibial gland prominent, oval-shaped and approximately 57% length of tibia. Four fingers and five toes, all rounded, thick-set and tapering without terminal discs. Webbing on fingers absent and with moderate trace on toes ( Fig. 10 ), prominent distended finger spatulae on 2 nd fingers indicating specimen is female. Subarticular tubercles prominent on fingers and toes, metacarpal tubercles prominent, inner-metatarsal tubercle also prominent, wedge-shaped and longer than the 1 st toe. Soles of feet smooth. Numerous raised scattered tubercles present on posterior edge of thighs and around cloaca. Color in preservative.— Described after more than 115 years in preservative, dorsum base color a fairly uniform creambrown with irregularly scattered large dark brown blotches and spots, tending to become darker and denser posteriorly. Distinct yellow vertebral stripe extending from rostrum to vent. Pattern becomes more dispersed laterally and is replaced by a fairly uniform cream-yellow base which transitions to a slightly lighter and immaculate cream-yellow on the ventrum. Subaural gland cream-yellow, with darker brown banding running through eye. Upper surface of arms cream-yellow with faded mottling. Lower surface of arms and legs plain cream-yellow. Variation.— A summary of variation in morphometric characters for each sex is presented in Table 6 and Figure 6 . Color and pattern (in life).— Ventral surface plain, unpatterned cream to pearl and edged by yellow. Vocal sac dark brown to orange and mottled in breeding males. Distinct magenta patches in inguinal region and legs. Dorsum with light brown base with strong dark brown to black blotching ( Fig. 17 ). Yellow vertebral stripe can be distinct, broken, faded, or absent. Lateral zone with dark brown base and yellow-orange mottling or stippling. Posterior thigh flash black with scarlet to orange blotching. Soles of feet dark brown with light speckling and lateral edge of foot often with yellow stripe. Shoulder with yellow-orange patch, forearm mottled with gray, brown, white, to pearl fingers and toes. Distinct yellow to orange subaural gland with darker brown to black stripe running from rostrum, through eye and usually fading into the lateral zone. Advertisement call.— The advertisement call description of L. terraereginae is based on the calls of five individuals from Cape York Peninsula. The advertisement call consists of a single, resonant note. Individuals had a mean dominant frequency of 0.6–1.1 kHz, and a mean fundamental frequency of 0.5–0.6 kHz. On average, advertisement calls had a duration of 0.08– 0.12 s ( Table 7 ; Fig. 8 )