The Duel At Dusk

First published in Sanctuary Cub, Vol. 43 No. 5, May 2023

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Photo Feature

Love Makes The World Go Round
In the rainforests of the Sharavathi Valley, a critically endangered male Kottigehar torrent frog Micrixalus kottigeharensis clasps his forelegs around a female’s middle in a ‘false’ mating position known to herpetologists as ‘amplexus’. In most frog species, egg fertilisation takes place outside the female’s body, which is why this position is held long enough to allow the sperm to reach the eggs, both of which are released simultaneously. Frog species have been recorded holding the amplexus position for hours and, some claim, even days. For reasons not fully understood, some females of a species may release just a few, perhaps even just one egg, while females of other species may produce several hundred eggs. Photo: Angad Chappa