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30 April 2023 Diet and Habitat Use of Proceratophrys ararype (Anura: Odontophrynidae), an Endemic Frog from the Chapada do Araripe, Northeastern Brazil
Wilmara Mascarenhas, Cicero R. Oliveira, Robson W. Ávila, Samuel C. Ribeiro
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Abstract

Information on the use of food resources and habitat are important tools for understanding trophic niche and ecological relationships. Many factors can influence the diet and eating habits of anurans. Species of the genus Proceratophrys are important components of the leaf litter frog communities in the Neotropical forests, including P. ararype, a species with restricted distribution in northeast Brazil. Therefore, we describe aspects of habitat use and evaluate the diet of P. ararype and compare these results with information on other Proceratophrys species. We collected, dissected, and examined the gastrointestinal tracts of 40 individuals, among which 55% contained food items, with 11 prey categories identified. We also tested the relationship between prey item categories and sampling sites, differences between males and females, and the relationship between frog size and prey. The species can be characterized as generalist, and the volume of prey ingested was not related to the average size of the individuals. Additionally, the habitat most used by the anuran was leaf litter; thus, it was inferred that this frog species uses the environment horizontally. The data found and comparisons with the literature suggest that the diet composition of P. ararype is determined by the availability of arthropods in the environment. This study demonstrates the importance of understanding habitat use, highlighting opportunistic behavior, such as the pattern found for anuran amphibians, contributing to elucidate the biology of anurans with relictual distribution, especially in semi-arid regions.

Wilmara Mascarenhas, Cicero R. Oliveira, Robson W. Ávila, and Samuel C. Ribeiro "Diet and Habitat Use of Proceratophrys ararype (Anura: Odontophrynidae), an Endemic Frog from the Chapada do Araripe, Northeastern Brazil," South American Journal of Herpetology 26(1), 56-62, (30 April 2023). https://doi.org/10.2994/SAJH-D-21-00035.1
Received: 9 July 2021; Accepted: 24 October 2022; Published: 30 April 2023
KEYWORDS
anuran
Arthropods
food niche
microhabitat
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