Deeper or Shallower? Interactions and Temporal Variability in Choosing Burrowing Depth between Species of Economic Burrowing Frogs of Forest Area from Northeastern Thailand

Abstract

Abstract: Burrowing is one of the important seasonal behaviors in amphibians that could be related to physiological ecology and environmental factors. Burrowing characteristics and temporal variability in burrowing behaviors were explored and examined from three sampling surveys in northeastern Thailand in 2017–2018. Four species of burrowing frogs were identified with overwhelmingly abundant specimens in two species, Glyphoglossus molossus and Kaloula mediolineata. In general, K. mediolineata burrowed deeper than G. molossus although their body size were not different. There were no clear relationships between burrowing depth and frog body size in each species, although G. molossus showed larger SVL in dry seasons than that in rainy seasons. In contrast to K. mediolineata which preferred to burrow deeper in dry seasons, burrowing depth of G. molossus was almost stable among seasons. The results of this study highlighted an interaction between season and species in the burrowing depth of these two frog species in northeastern Thailand.