Most of metamorphosed terrestrial frogs feed only on moving organisms and rarely exhibit scavenging behavior in nature. We here report a case of scavenging by the Japanese Rice Frog, Fejervarya kawamurai, which fed on a dead Black-spotted Frog, Pelophylax nigromaculatus at the edge of paddy field in central Japan. This observation is the first case of Fejervarya, feeding on a dead animal in nature and is an important addition to the cases of this unique behavior, which has been reported only for limited number of anuran species so far. In contrast, the behavior is more often reported for frogs in captivity, and F. kawamurai may be a useful species for examining scavenging behavior in post metamorphic anurans.
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1 August 2016
A Case of Scavenging Behavior by the Japanese Rice Frog, Fejervarya kawamurai (Amphibia: Anura: Dicroglossidae)
Kanto Nishikawa,
Shimpei Ochi
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Current Herpetology
Vol. 35 • No. 2
August 2016
Vol. 35 • No. 2
August 2016
Fejervarya kawamurai
Japan
Pelophylax nigromaculatus
scavenging