SEXUAL SELECTION IN THE RAUCOUS TOAD, BUFO-RANGERI

In a 3-year study of the raucous toad mate choice was always determined by the female; males competed only to maintain exclusive acoustic zones around themselves. An important factor influencing male mating success was the number of nights an individual male was present at the breeding site during the breeding season, which lasted for approximately 4 months. Males lost weight while calling at the site, and gained weight during foraging trips away from it. Mating success was not related to male size, nor was there any evidence of assortative mating by size. In mate-choice experiments, females preferred synthetic calls with a fast repetition rate, a trait that both varied between mates and correlated with male mating success, in the population studied. Furthermore, the higher the mean call rate of an individual male, the greater was his mean daily weight loss. These results are discussed with regard to 'good genes' as opposed to 'good taste' models of sexual selection. © 1993 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. All rights reserved.