Characteristics of an Acoustic Community: Puerto Rican Frogs of the Genus Eleutherodactylus

Abstract

The advertisement calling of 14 of the 15 species of Eleutherodactylus known from the main island of Puerto Rico was studied. When and where the species call and the characteristics of their advertisement calls are described. Calling assemblages of 4 to 6 species were found to be common, assemblages of more than 8 species were rare. The maximum numbers of species heard calling in one assemblage were at mid-elevations, at the border between forest and open habitat. Within an assemblage calls of different species differ in both dominant frequency and temporal patterning (duration and number of notes and durations of intervals). Potentially, differences in both frequency and temporal pattern in these frogs may contribute to species recognition and to the minimization of interference between the calls of different species in the same assemblage.