Abstract

Aggressive behaviors in anurans include inflation of the lungs, elevation of the body, opening of the mouth, vocalizations, and jumps (Duellman and Trueb 1986. Biology of Amphibians, McGraw Hill, New York. 620 pp.). Because these behaviors are seldom observed, there are only scattered reports. Among the frogs of the family Leptodactylidae, aggressive behavior has been reported among members of the subfamilies Leptodactylinae (Leptodactylus ocellatus, L pentadactylus) (Villa 1969. Rev. Biol. Trop. 15:323-329; Vaz-Ferreira and Gehrau 1975. Physis 34:114); Ceratophrinae (Lepidobatrachus llanensis, Ceratophrys ornata) (Barrio 1963. Physis 24:143-148), and Telmatobiinae (Caudiverbera caudiverbera) (Veloso 1977. Herpetologica 33:434-4.42). Here we describe the aggressive behavior of Eupsophus emiliopugini, a member of the subfamily Telmatobiinae, which is endemic to the temperate Nothofagus forests of southern Chile (Formas 1989. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 102:568-576).