It is generally accepted that high quality males are those that succeed in
male-male competition: in either aggression or rivalry to attract and be se
lected by females. Previous studies of amphibians have suggested that the m
ain characters influencing male mating success include variation in call ch
aracteristics (e.g. call rate, call intensity), calling behaviour, body con
dition, age and chorus tenure. In the present paper, several of the charact
ers influencing female mate choice (male body size, body condition, call ra
te, call frequency and chorus tenure) are investigated in two closely relat
ed, explosive breeding frog species Litoria chloris and Litoria xanthomera.
Smaller males of both species are shown to be more successful than larger
males and this success is attributed to the increased chorus tenure of smal
ler males in L. xanthomera. This increased chorus tenure was attributed to
the lower total energy used per call by a small male calling at a higher fr
equency. Whether increased chorus tenure explains female mate choice in L.
chloris is uncertain but is highly probable given the strong similarity bet
ween the two species in both ecology and call characteristics.