b ; ( : O l , I N ; ~ ' . SYHTlCMATI(:S A N I ) EVOL[ITIOS OF AUBTliAIAIAN FROGS 71
of C. &werti arid a p e i n g with the description of the species and the
!dotype, have t~ Inrrlr! hroeding (:ell which can he likened to the rattle
producoll by t t p t r houiiaing in a can.
Hybridisation experiments using Hpcimenu with the above eharacteristics collected from localities up to 250 miles apart show no difference in viability between the experiments1 and c o n t d crosaea. It is
therefore concluded that this is a single species - C. glnuerti.
C. glauerti occurs sympatricdly with C. georqiuna in many localit,ies
and in all of these places C. glauerti and C . georgiuna are morphologically
distinci.
When Crinin glauerti is crossed to C. georginna many eggs fail to
cleave, and none develop beyond blastula.
In emtern Australia two species of Crinia, (ta.smwniemis and signiferu) are found in which the colour pattern of the ventral surface tends
to resemble that of C. gluuerti. In one in vitro cross 57 C. glauerti eggs
were crossed to a C. taslnaniensis male. -411 eggs cleaved; 5 failed in
blastula, 12 failed to include yolk, and 40 reached an apparently normal
neural fold. Of these 33 failed to develop furthar, then became oedematous and died. Chromosome counts were made on 6 apparently normal
embryos. All were haploid. Two larvae hatched with short bent tails
but did not survive.
The male breeding call of C. signifera is very similar to that of
C . glauerti. Main (lH57b) ahowed that the cross of male C. signifera and
female C . glauerti wm highly viable (mainland, Australia) or very inviable (Tasmania). The reciprocal cross - female C. signifera (New
South Wales) and male C. glauerti produced grossly abnormal embryos.
These findings have been interpreted aa indicating that the western
G'. glauerti is not c,onspecific with, but is related to, C. signifero which is
restricted to eastern Australia.
(iii) C. signijera. In eastern Australia the range of C. signijera extends in a great arc on the coast side of the mountains from Adelaide
to Brisbane. The distance from Adelaide to the New South Wales/
Queendand border is, as the species is distributed, about 1100 miles.
A t the extremes of this range there is no difference in the main breeding
call (Littlejohn, 1959: 458-459). Male breeding calls from Victoria and
Southern Queensland are also similar. Females from Southern Queensland respond positively to calls of C. signifera from Victoria and females
of C. signijern from Southern Queensland crossed to male of C. signifera
from Victoria show no invitrbility in the experimental crosses (Straughan
and Main, 1066). All the evidence indicates that in e,astern Australia a
Crinia having a white ventral surface with large black blotches, lacking
any red colouration in the groin and thighs, with a male breeding call
like a creaking door, in H ningle speaiw which is C . signiferu.
of C. &werti arid a p e i n g with the description of the species and the
!dotype, have t~ Inrrlr! hroeding (:ell which can he likened to the rattle
producoll by t t p t r houiiaing in a can.
Hybridisation experiments using Hpcimenu with the above eharacteristics collected from localities up to 250 miles apart show no difference in viability between the experiments1 and c o n t d crosaea. It is
therefore concluded that this is a single species - C. glnuerti.
C. glauerti occurs sympatricdly with C. georqiuna in many localit,ies
and in all of these places C. glauerti and C . georgiuna are morphologically
distinci.
When Crinin glauerti is crossed to C. georginna many eggs fail to
cleave, and none develop beyond blastula.
In emtern Australia two species of Crinia, (ta.smwniemis and signiferu) are found in which the colour pattern of the ventral surface tends
to resemble that of C. gluuerti. In one in vitro cross 57 C. glauerti eggs
were crossed to a C. taslnaniensis male. -411 eggs cleaved; 5 failed in
blastula, 12 failed to include yolk, and 40 reached an apparently normal
neural fold. Of these 33 failed to develop furthar, then became oedematous and died. Chromosome counts were made on 6 apparently normal
embryos. All were haploid. Two larvae hatched with short bent tails
but did not survive.
The male breeding call of C. signifera is very similar to that of
C . glauerti. Main (lH57b) ahowed that the cross of male C. signifera and
female C . glauerti wm highly viable (mainland, Australia) or very inviable (Tasmania). The reciprocal cross - female C. signifera (New
South Wales) and male C. glauerti produced grossly abnormal embryos.
These findings have been interpreted aa indicating that the western
G'. glauerti is not c,onspecific with, but is related to, C. signifero which is
restricted to eastern Australia.
(iii) C. signijera. In eastern Australia the range of C. signijera extends in a great arc on the coast side of the mountains from Adelaide
to Brisbane. The distance from Adelaide to the New South Wales/
Queendand border is, as the species is distributed, about 1100 miles.
A t the extremes of this range there is no difference in the main breeding
call (Littlejohn, 1959: 458-459). Male breeding calls from Victoria and
Southern Queensland are also similar. Females from Southern Queensland respond positively to calls of C. signifera from Victoria and females
of C. signijern from Southern Queensland crossed to male of C. signifera
from Victoria show no invitrbility in the experimental crosses (Straughan
and Main, 1066). All the evidence indicates that in e,astern Australia a
Crinia having a white ventral surface with large black blotches, lacking
any red colouration in the groin and thighs, with a male breeding call
like a creaking door, in H ningle speaiw which is C . signiferu.