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Previous investigations have demonstrated the importance of predator diet in chemically mediated antipredator behaviour. However, there are few data on responses to life-stage-specific predator diets, which could be important for animals like amphibians that undergo metamorphosis and must respond to different suites of predators at different life-history stages. In laboratory choice tests, we investigated the chemically mediated avoidance response of juvenile western toads, Bufo boreas, to four different chemical stimuli: (1) live conspecific juveniles; (2) live earthworms; (3) snakes fed juvenile conspecifics; and (4) snakes fed larval conspecifics (tadpoles). Juvenile toads avoided chemical cues from snakes that...
In field-based choice experiments, we examined sex recognition and mate choice in male western toads,Bufo boreas. When given a simultaneous choice between a male and a female of equal size, males did not discriminate between the sexes and attempted to amplex a male or a female with equal frequency. When a test male clasped a stimulus male, the stimulus male uttered a release call that caused the test male to release the stimulus male. Male?male amplexus never lasted more than 3 s, but male?female amplexus was tenacious and prolonged. Furthermore, males discriminated between gravid females that differed in body size, choosing larger gravid females over smaller ones, but they did not discriminate between gravid females...
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