Advertisement call and female sexual cycle in Uruguayan populations of Physalaemus henselii (Anura, Leiuperidae)

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Physalaemus henselii (Peters, 1872) is a little known leiuperid frog that has not been studied since the 1960's. Herein, we redescribe its advertisement call, and assess the female sexual cycle and the reproductive period on the basis of the macroscopic analysis of the ovaries and field observations. The Ovarian Size Factor (OSF) was calculated. The study was made in Departamento de Rivera, northern Uruguay. The advertisement call consists of short (177 ± 21ms), multipulsed (20 ± 3 pulses/note) notes, with a note repetition rate of 1.57 ± 0.13 notes/s. Physalaemus henselii has a female sexual cycle with unimodal distribution of gravid females, which are present from February to September. The OSF and the ratio "females with mature oocytes / females without mature oocytes" reached the highest values from April to June. The number and size of oocytes were positively correlated with female size. The smallest female (SVL =18.94mm, weight =0.78g) with mature oocytes was found in July. The observed sexual cycle with a single annual reproductive period during the cold season (autumn and early winter), is an uncommon fact for anuran species in the region.

Aspectos reprodutivos de uma população de Physalaemus gracilis (BOULENGER 1883) (Anura: Leptodactylidae) do sul do Brasil

“…Our findings indicate reduction in the average body size of the sample, with mean of SVL slower in spring and, more sharply, in summer, and that may be interpreted as recruitment of new individuals emerging from the last breeding season as observed in other studies (Giaretta and Menin, 2004;Lombardo, 2011;Oliveira et al, 2007). We observed the variation of SVL at different times of the year and it may also indicate that young and adult individuals do not occur simultaneously in the study area, as verified monthly for P. gracilis (Camargo et al, 2008) and P. riograndensis (Pereira and Maneyro, 2012), both in Uruguay.…”

Seasonal variation in the composition of ground-dwelling anuran (Amphibia) assemblages in southern Brazil

“…, 2006). Individuals of Physalaemus henselii are more reproductively active than other species during the cold seasons (Maneyro et al, 2008). In turn, individuals of P. cuvieri, L. latrans and Physalaemus aff.…”

Biología reproductiva de <i>Boana pulchella</i> y <i>Boana punctata</i> (Anura: Hylidae) en poblaciones simpátricas de humedales templados

“…En las regiones de clima templado, con estacionalidad térmica y pluviométrica, la mayoría de las especies se reproducen en la estación cálida y lluviosa (Huang et al 2004, Sánchez et al 2007, López et al 2011. Sin embargo, existen algunos anuros que pueden reproducirse en meses fríos o incluso algunos que muestran una actividad gonadal ininterrumpida y son capaces de reproducirse todo el año (Cei 1948, 1949, Maneyro et al 2008.…”