Further observations of visual signalling in Australo-Papuan hylid frogs of the genus Litoria (Tschudi)

Intra-specific communication in anuran amphibians is primarily achieved with vocal signals (Duellman and Trueb 1994). However, some species also use visual displays for interand/ or intra-sexual communication (Hodl and Amezquita 2001). Such displays include movement of the fore and/ or hindlimbs (e.g. hand-waving, foot-flagging and/or legflicking), movement of the body or posturing, and exhibition of a brightly coloured vocal sac (Hodl and Amezquita 2001; Hirschmann and Hodl 2006). Visual signalling is hypothesised to be an alternative or complementary mode of communication in anurans used under certain environmental and/or social conditions (e.g. in noisy or visually complex environments) (Amezquita and Hodl 2004).