COURTSHIP BEHAVIOR OF THE OUACHITA DUSKY SALAMANDER, DESMOGNATHUS-BRIMLEYORUM, AND A COMPARISON WITH OTHER DESMOGNATHINE SALAMANDERS

This paper provides the first description of the courtship of the Nort h American Ouachita dusky salamander, Desmognathus brimleyorum (Pletho dontidae: Desmognathinae). Heterosexual encounters consist of multiple sequences of courtship, each sequence ending with the deposition of a single spermatophore on the substratum. Insemination is most likely t o occur at the end of the final sequence in an encounter. Each sequenc e contains behaviour patterns that function to orient and synchronize the partners, and enable the male to provide tactile (rubbing and nudg ing), chemical (snapping and pulling) and, perhaps, visual (jerking) s timulation to the female. In terms of the sequential structure of enco unters, the courtship of D. brimleyorum is unique among desmognathine salamanders for which descriptions are available. However, each of the individual behaviour patterns exhibited by D. brimleyorum during sequ ences of courtship is shown by congeneric taxa. Understanding patterns of similarities among these taxa awaits a phylogenetic analysis of be havioural evolution in the monophyletic Desmognathinae.