Ambystomid behavior: toe tapping?

[leitchka]

My late spotted salamander, Olive, repeatedly exhibited a behavior I found to be very interesting. I have never heard another account of such a behavior in an amphibian, so I wanted to share it with you all to see if anyone else has observed it.

Olive's responsiveness to my looming figure would vary from week to week. During times when she was very alert and responsive, the sight of a waxworm or cricket would cause her to tap the toes of both her posterior feet. (This looked much like the fingers of an impatient person drumming on a desk.) This would continue for tens of seconds. If she had recently eaten, she would not ever do this. What could be the function of this behavior? Could this serve as a lure for prey? Was she steadying her stance in her bedding? Or was she just being heart-wrenchingly cute for my sake?

Has anyone seen this before? If so, in what species?

 

[Kaysie]

That's a very interesting observation. I suspect your theory on luring prey might be along the right lines. I'm going to go home and observe my Ambystomatids and see what I get.

 

[duggie26]

I just saw my Tiger Salamander do the same thing yesterday! He tapped his rear toes about 10 seconds before snapping up a cricket. It didn't look like he was attracting prey. He looked like he was getting ready to pounce. I would sure like to hear more about this interesting behavior!

 

[Mark]

A range of amphibians display this behaviour, especially toads and dart frogs. The tapping aims to attract prey items within striking range, like a lure.