Vocalizations of Microhyla achatina Tschudi, 1838 (Anura: Microhylidae) from the foot hills of Mount Salak, West Java

Abstract

Vocalizations of Microhyla achatina have never been described before. The advertisement calls of six individual males
of M. achatina which originated from the foot hills of Mount Salak, West Java were recorded in September 2011 at
air temperatures of 21.0°C-23.4°C. Call components were obtained from 95 calls, consisting of 855 pulses, which
were then analyzed to obtain the characteristics of sound waves by using software of Adobe Audition 3.0 and
SAP2011. Sound waves of M. achatina mainly consists of impulses whose sound spectrum ranges from 1327.5-
2789.1 Hz, while the band width of the spectrum is 1461.6 Hz. Results of the analysis showed that the frequency of
the three pulse-forming elements (dominant frequency, maximum frequency and minimum frequency) was markedly
modulated; frequency modulation was clearly visible in the minimum frequency, which was modulared by 1500 to
2700 Hz modulation. The modulation of the dominant frequency and the maximum frequency was not too broad,
i.e. between 3000-3500 Hz. Results of linear regression analysis of the dominant frequency versus minimum frequency
and dominant frequency versus maximum frequency showed a strong correlation between the dominant frequency
versus minimum frequency, but a weak correlation between the dominant frequency versus the maximum
frequency.
Keywords: vocalization, Microhyla achatina, West Java.