The First Bromeligenous Species of Dendropsophus (Anura: Hylidae) from Brazil\u27s Atlantic Forest

We describe a new treefrog species of Dendropsophus collected on rocky outcrops in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Ecologically, the new species can be distinguished from all known congeners by having a larval phase associated with rainwater accumulated in bromeliad phytotelms instead of temporary or lentic water bodies. Phylogenetic analysis based on molecular data confirms that the new species is a member of Dendropsophus; our analysis does not assign it to any recognized species group in the genus. Morphologically, based on comparison with the 96 known congeners, the new species is diagnosed by its small size, framed dorsal color pattern, and short webbing between toes IV-V. The advertisement call is composed of a moderate-pitched two-note call (~5 kHz). The territorial call contains more notes and pulses than the advertisement call. Field observations suggest that this new bromeligenous species uses a variety of bromeliad species to breed in, and may be both territorial and exhibit male parental care

To beg or to freeze: multimodal sensory integration directs behavior in a tadpole

Effective coordination of behaviors such as foraging and avoiding predators requires an assessment of cues provided by other organisms. Integrating cues from multiple sensory modalities may enhance the assessment. We studied cue integration by tadpoles of Oophaga pumilio, which live in small arboreal water pools. In this species, mothers periodically visit their tadpoles and feed them with unfertilized eggs. When mothers visit, tadpoles beg conspicuously by vibrating until fed. However, animals other than mother frogs including potential predators may visit water pools. Thus, when a visitor appears, tadpoles must use visitor cues to decide whether to beg or to remain inactive to avoid predation. To elucidate the cues that prompt these behaviors, we videotaped behavior of O. pumilio tadpoles in response to isolated and multimodal cues. Tadpoles swam more when exposed to visual or visual and chemical cues of adult O. pumilio but only exhibited begging when exposed to visual, chemical, and tactile cues together. Visual, chemical, and tactile cues from either male or female adult O. pumilio stimulated swim- ming and begging, but the same cues from similarly sized heterospecific frogs did not. Lastly, tadpoles exposed to a potential predator did not beg and swam less than tadpoles with no stimulus. Together, these findings suggest that O. pumilio tadpoles use multimodal cues to modulate swimming behavior accordingly in the presence of egg provisioners, predators, and other visitors and that tadpole begging is induced by multimodal cues of conspecific frogs such that tactile and perhaps chemical cues supplement visual cues.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP