The island rule in the Brazilian frog Phyllodytes luteolus (Anura: Hylidae): incipient gigantism?

Mageski, Marcio Marques; Ferreira, Rodrigo B.; Jesus, Paulo R.; Costa, Larissa C.; Roper, James J.; Ferreira, Paulo D.

doi:10.1590/s1984-46702015000500001

Cited by 10 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Much is still discussed on the causes of continent-island size variation [ 2 , 3 , 8 ], and although many studies have referred to the Island Rule, applying it to several groups [ 9 , 10 , 11 ], just a few studies have focused on amphibian populations [ 12 – 14 ]. Perhaps because such a rule was developed with long distance dispersal and volcanic islands in mind, and the effects described being related to species in the continent being considered the ancestral stock for those on islands [ 1 , 2 , 15 ], amphibians were excluded from such considerations because these animals do not occur on those islands.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frog size on continental islands of the coast of Rio de Janeiro and the generality of the Island Rule

2018

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Island Rule postulated that individuals on islands tend to dwarfism when individuals from mainland populations are large and to gigantism when mainland populations present small individuals. There has been much discussion about this rule, but only few studies were carried out aiming to reveal this pattern for anurans. Our study focused on measuring the size of individuals on islands and to find a possible pattern of size modification for insular anurans. Individuals were collected on continental islands, measured and compared to mainland populations. We selected four species with different natural history aspects during these analyses. Island parameters were compared to size of individuals in order to find an explanation to size modification. Three of the four species presented size shifting on islands. Ololygon trapicheiroi and Adenomera marmorata showed dwarfism, Boana albomarginata showed gigantism and in Thoropa miliaris there was no evident size modification. Allometric analysis also revealed differential modification, which might be a result of different selective pressures on islands in respect of mainland populations. Regression model explained most of the size modification in B. albomarginata, but not for the other species. Our results indicate that previous assumptions, usually proposed for mammals from older islands, do not fit to the anurans studied here. We support the assumption that size modification on islands are population-specific. Hence, in B. albomarginata some factor associated to competition, living area and isolation time might likely be responsible for gigantism on islands.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frog size on continental islands of the coast of Rio de Janeiro and the generality of the Island Rule

2018

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“…For example, the absence of interspecific competitors and predators has been suggested to play an important role in abundance and body size increment in the Brazilian frog Phyllodytes luteolus (Mageski et al . 2015). In summary, the release from predators and competitors, as well as the maintenance or increase in the availability of some key food resources, may be potential explanations for the sustained or increased body mass and/or condition in the three studied species in pine plantations, although we have no direct evidence to further examine these alternatives.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological responses of three persistent native anuran species after forest conversion into monoculture pine plantations: tolerance or prosperity?

et al. 2020

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Species loss by habitat replacement operating as an ecological filter is a well‐known consequence of modern human activities. In contrast, the ecological and evolutionary response of species overcoming those filters in converted habitats has not been thoroughly explored. Species that persist are subject to novel and potentially stressful conditions that may induce certain morphological changes. We evaluated changes in the functional morphology of three anuran species persisting after the conversion of areas of the Atlantic Forest into pine plantations. We specifically evaluated differences in body size and body condition indices, head width, and hind legs’ length between adult individuals from both habitats and sexes. Habitat conversion and sexual dimorphism affected the morphology of the three anurans, with varying effects upon species and traits. Regarding the effect of habitat conversion, Elachistocleis bicolor increased body condition in plantations with no changes in the other traits, Physalaemus cuvieri showed only a marginal increment in residual body mass in plantations, and Odontophrynus americanus exhibited a substantial increment in body size while maintaining its body condition in plantations. Remarkably, none of the results suggested these persistent anurans were stressed by forest conversion. This study shows that habitat conversion may induce intraspecific morphological changes in ecologically relevant traits of persistent species, and that disturbed areas do not necessarily imply stressful, low quality habitats affecting all persistent native species negatively.

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“…In the field, vocalizing frogs were located by their calls and additional frogs were found by searching in the appropriate tank bromeliads (Rödel & Ernst ; Mageski et al . ). Data gathered from museums, publications and the field included date, latitude, longitude, altitude (we used GPS Map GARMIN ® 60csx) and the species of bromeliad in which the frog was found (when available in the literature and museum records, and always in our field samples).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…These small frogs have an average snout‐vent length of 21.0 mm and weigh 0.74 g (Mageski et al . ). These small frogs apparently tend to remain within a bromeliad clump and so their ability to disperse depends on the distance between bromeliads.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Consequences of dispersal limitation and habitat fragmentation for the Brazilian heart‐tongued frogs (Phyllodytes spp.)

2018

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Poorly known species may be cryptically endangered, especially when they inhabit fragmented and threatened habitats. Heart-tongued frogs (genus Phyllodytes, family Hylidae, Lophyohylinae) comprise 17 species of poorly known frogs that have obligatory associations with tank bromeliads. The distributions of all species are restricted to a small, extremely fragmented, region of Atlantic Forest in eastern Brazil. We model climate and tank bromeliad distributions to better understand frog distribution limits. Using records from several sources for frogs and bromeliads with climate data from WorldClim, we modelled the distribution of Phyllodytes using maximum entropy. We compared climate and altitude within the distribution and nearby to test how climate may limit distribution. Climate together with bromeliad distributions provided the best model and predicted the smallest suitable area for Phyllodytes that was larger than that occupied, from the state of Para ıba in the north to Rio Grande do Sul in the south. Phyllodytes occurs in lower elevations that are warmer, wetter and less variable than the surrounding regions where it does not occur, and dispersal is apparently limited by the surrounding, inhospitable, region. Dispersal limitation and habitat fragmentation have relegated Phyllodytes to many very small habitat fragments. With many species in this genus being known from a single or few samples, this unfortunate combination of limitation and fragmentation suggests that some or all species of Phyllodytes may be threatened with extinction, especially if habitat fragmentation continues at its present pace in eastern Brazil.

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The island rule in the Brazilian frog Phyllodytes luteolus (Anura: Hylidae): incipient gigantism?

Cited by 10 publications

References 9 publications

Frog size on continental islands of the coast of Rio de Janeiro and the generality of the Island Rule

Frog size on continental islands of the coast of Rio de Janeiro and the generality of the Island Rule

Morphological responses of three persistent native anuran species after forest conversion into monoculture pine plantations: tolerance or prosperity?

Consequences of dispersal limitation and habitat fragmentation for the Brazilian heart‐tongued frogs (Phyllodytes spp.)

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