The Herpetological Journal is the Society's prestigious quarterly scientific journal. Articles are listed in Biological Abstracts, Current Awareness in Biological Sciences,Current Contents, Science Citation Index, and Zoological Record.
ISSN 0268-0130
2021 Impact Factor from Clarivate for the Herpetological Journal is 1.194, an increase of 0.332 from 2020.
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pp.151-355
Authors: J. R. Downie
Abstract: Downie (1984) showed that recently hatched tadpoles of the ground nesting frog Leptodactylus fuscus make a foam which replaces the original nest foam made by the mating adults, but did not describe how it is made. The present results show that 1) foam-making is a communal activity: single tadpoles do not do it; 2) foam bubbles are made mainly by spitting movements oft he mouth, but also by wriggling of the tail; 3) foam is probably stabilised by mucus secreted by buccal glands; precocious secretion by these glands may be an adaptation to foam-ma king; 4) components of foam making behaviour are shown by other tadpole species out of water, but the complete behaviour is specific to recently hatched L. .fuscus.