Advertisement and release calls in Neotropical toads of the Rhinella granulosa group and evidence of natural hybridization between R. bergi and R. major (Anura: Bufonidae)

Abstract

The Rhinella granulosa group currently includes 12 species distributed eastern to the Andes, from Panama to central Argentina. We studied bioacoustic features of the advertisement calls in seven of these species: Rhinella azarai, R. bergi, R. centralis, R. dorbignyi, R. fernandezae, R. major, and R. merianae. In addition, we analyzed the release calls of R. azarai, R. bergi, R. dorbignyi, and R. fernandezae. The advertisement calls consisted of long trills, composed by notes with a variable pulse number (2–8) that was characteristic of each species. The release calls consisted of a single note, pulsed or not. Both advertisement and release calls clearly varied between species, except for R. dorbignyi and R. fernandezae. The study of specimens sharing exosomatic characters with R. bergi and R. major from a syntopy area, which presented intermediate spectral and temporal call parameters, confirmed natural hybridization between these two species.

Calls and tadpoles of the species of Lysapsus (Anura, Hylidae, Pseudae)

“…Heyer et al (1996), for example, while revising the taxonomic status of the Leptodactylus mystaceus species complex recognized a new sibling species differentiated by the advertisement call. Guerra et al (2011) analysed the advertisement calls of the Rhinella granulosa species group and corroborated a recent morphology-based taxonomy (Narvaes and Rodrigues, 2009). Several other similar examples abound in the literature (Pombal-Jr. and Haddad, 1999;Abrunhosa et al, 2005;Canedo and Pombal-Jr., 2007;Glaw et al, 2010).…”

Phylogenetic relationships of toads of theRhinella granulosagroup (Anura: Bufonidae): a molecular perspective with comments on hybridization and introgression

“…Guerra et al. () reported the occurrence of hybrids between both species calling actively in breeding sites, and some other adult specimens with intermediate morphological traits between these species were observed in collection material (M.O.P. and D.B., pers.…”

“…Our results suggest a wide introgression of nuclear genes between Rhinella bergi and R. major throughout extensive geographical areas, which is supported by the large number of polymorphisms in the nuclear sequences of both species (Appendices S9.1-S9.6) from different (and sympatric) localities. Guerra et al (2011) reported the occurrence of hybrids between both species calling actively in breeding sites, and some other adult specimens with intermediate morphological traits between these species were observed in collection material (M.O.P. and D.B., pers.…”

“…CFBH 14062, as these differ only in the development and shape of some cephalic crests (Gallardo, 1957;Narvaes and Rodrigues, 2009), and some authors have reported the absence of fixed differences between these taxa (Klappenbach and Langone, 1992;Prigioni and Achaval, 1992;Maneyro and Kwet, 2008). Furthermore, they also cannot be distinguished based on genetic distance (Appendix S7), tadpole morphology (Borteiro et al, 2006), advertisement and release call parameters (Guerra et al, 2011), or cytogenetic data (M.O.P. and D.B., pers.…”

“…Garcia‐Porta et al., ). Hybridization events are apparently common in the Rhinella granulosa group and there are reports of hybrid specimens of R. bergi × R. major , R. dorbignyi × R. fernandezae , R. fernandezae × R. major , R. granulosa × R. mirandaribeiroi , and R. major × R. mirandaribeiroi (Gallardo, ; Narvaes and Rodrigues, ; Guerra et al., ). However, virtually nothing is known about fertility of the hybrid progeny or the existence of gene flow between species of the group.…”