Male Tail Loss and Courtship Success in the Plethodontid Salamander Desmognathus ochrophaeus

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Abstract
Because a male plethodontid salamander actively uses its tail during courtship, an experiment was designed to compare differences in courtship ability and insemination success between male D. ochrophaeus with and without intact tails. Rates of spermatophore deposition and of female insemination were scored during 2 blocks of staged courtship encounters: during the 1st block tests, both experimental and control groups of males had intact tails; during the 2nd block, experimental males were tailless while the control males had intact tails. Courtship and insemination scores did not differ significantly between control and experimental males either before or after tail loss.