Noisy love

April 8, 2009 04:09 by Alan

Over the last couple of weeks staff from Live Exhibits have been subjected to a barrage of frog calls from two of the resident species being held behind the scenes. The male Growling Grass Frogs (Litoria raniformis) and Green and Golden Bell Frogs (Litoria aurea) have been calling their hearts out in an attempt to woo their respective females into a slippery embrace known as amplexus. Both species are closely related and have similar calls, which has resulted in a mix of loud continuous amphibian pleading coming from the room. So far only one male Green and Golden Bell Frog has made it into amplexus - all hinges on whether the female is ready to release eggs for him to fertilise.