Foot-flagging

These include the first records of nocturnal foot-flagging and foot-flagging displays exhibited outside a rainforest environment.

During a foot-flagging display, a male raised one or both hind legs by extending it/them into an arc above the substrate level. The leg was then returned to the body side. At maximum extension, toes were outstretched, spread, and sometimes vibrated.

We documented if foot flaggings were carried out with one leg or both simultaneously.

Foot flagging has evolved at least six times among anurans. It arises in species living in noisy environments, such as under waterfalls, and thus “may have evolved to solve the same environmental and sensory problem,” Anderson explains.