Herpetological Conservation and Biology 12(2):457–469. Submitted: 25 January 2017; Accepted: 25 May 2017; Published: 31 August 2017. Courtship in the Torrent Salamander, Rhyacotriton, has an Ancient and Stable History Kali Doten, Gwendolynn W. Bury, Melody Rudenko, and Stevan J. Arnold1 Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA 1Corresponding author, e-mail:
[email protected] Abstract.—Although many examples of behavioral homology have been documented in the vertebrate literature, these examples are skewed towards short timescales. In this article we report the case of complex behavior used by salamanders in sperm transfer that is at least 123–153 million years old. Rhyacotriton is an ancient salamander lineage with distant relationships to Amphiuma and plethodontids and an even more distant relationship to ambystomatids and salamandrids. Only fragments of Rhyacotriton courtship were known from past work, but they promised insights into the ancient sexual radiation of salamander families. Here we report laboratory observations of complete Rhyacotriton courtship that confirm that promise. We recorded ongoing courtship with still photography, audiotape recordings, and videography. Some elements of Rhyacotriton courtship were remarkably similar to plethodontid homologs (e.g., trail-straddling walks and sperm transfer behavior). The spermatophore of Rhyacotriton was likewise very similar to that of plethodontids and unlike that of other salamanders. As in plethodontids, courting Rhyacotriton males could mimic female behavior and dupe rival males into unprofitable spermatophore deposition. These observations suggest that key aspects of sexual behavior shared by these two salamander families have persisted for 123–153 million years. Key Words.—courtship behavior; deep homology; mating display; spermatophore; spermatozoon; sexual interference Introduction is strengthened if the identical literary section is long and unique in the literature of a particular language.