This study investigated geographic variation in a suite of reproductive behavioral traits in Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni across several sites in Mexico and Ecuador. We made observations on the frequency of egg-mass brooding behavior and compared brooding encounter rates between wet and dry forest types. Brooding encounter rates were significantly higher in the drier region, suggesting a potential relationship between paternal care and climatic conditions. We also compared calling and oviposition sites between geographic regions and tested for associations with the distributional range of the frog-eating bat, Trachops cirrhosus. In regions where H. fleischmanni and T. cirrhosus co-occur, both calling males and egg masses were more frequently found on ‘less exposed’ lower surfaces of leaves, where risk of attack from aerial predators may be reduced. We also provide novel information on brooding behavior and clutch guarding, and discuss the implications of our results in the framework of existing information on the reproductive biology of this species.
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1 April 2010
Observations on the Reproductive Behavior of a Neotropical Glassfrog, Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni (Anura: Centrolenidae)
Jesse Delia,
Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia,
Jonathan Whitney,
Rene Murrieta-Galindo
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South American Journal of Herpetology
Vol. 5 • No. 1
April 2010
Vol. 5 • No. 1
April 2010
Amphibia
behavioral plasticity
Centrolenidae
geographic variation
Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni
Parental care
reproductive behavior