Advertisement calls of Neotropical poison frogs (Amphibia: Dendrobatidae) of the genera Colostethus, Dendrobates and Epipedobates, with notes on dendrobatid call classification

Flexible compensation of uniparental care: female poison frogs take over when males disappear

“…Given several other anecdotal observations of alleged biparental care in closely related dendrobatid species (listed in Wells 2007 , Table 11.3, p. 524–526; Myers and Daly 1983 ), this specific compensatory behavioral flexibility is probably more widespread and might have deeper evolutionary roots in dendrobatid frogs (see also Killius and Dugas 2014 , Tumulty et al 2014 ). Contrary to the current view of patterns of parental care in poison frogs as a stereotypic and stable result of long-term evolutionary processes ( Weygoldt 1987 ; Grant et al 2006 ; Lötters et al 2007 ; Summers and Tumulty 2014 ), our experiments show that individuals of the noncaring sex are able to immediately compensate for a lack of parental care by their partner. This is of major importance for studies that try to explain evolutionary processes and phylogenies—not only in poison frogs—by comparing “defined” patterns of parental care among species.…”

Widespread Occurrence of Bd in French Guiana, South America

“…In other localities as Colombia, species with water-independent habits have been shown to be those with the highest Bd prevalence [ 15 ]. In our study, Dendrobatidae species with terrestrial habits and reproducing in phytotelms or via direct development [ 48 ] displayed highest Bd prevalence. Published data on Bd prevalence for Dendrobatidae are scarce and the prevalence values determined here show that Dendrobatidae species may be more susceptible to Bd infection than previously thought.…”

Supplemental Material for 'Phylogenetic systematics of dart-poison frogs and their relatives (Amphibia, Athesphatanura, Dendrobatidae). (Bulletin of the AMNH ; no. 299)'

“…For example, the histrionicus group of Myers et al (1984) is delimited, in part, by a synapomorphic ''chirp'' call. Data are available for numerous species (for partial review, see Lö tters et al, 2003b), but their use in systematics has been predicated on their identification as a buzz (Myers and Daly, 1976b: 225), chirp (Myers and Daly, 1976b: 226), trill (Myers et al, 1978: 325), retarded trill (Myers and Daly, 1979: 18), or retarded chirp (Myers and Burrowes, 1987: 16), and the diversity of dendrobatid calls extends far beyond these few types. Although Lö tters et al (2003b) aimed to expand and standardize the definitions of these calls, they were aware that known calls of most species of dendrobatids do not correspond to any of these types, and additional characterizations such as peeps, cricketlike chirps, croaks, whistled trills, or harsh peep train (e.g., Rodríguez and Myers, 1993;Grant and Castro-Herrera, 1998;Bourne et al, 2001) have been employed, although none of these is defined precisely.…”

“…We hope this may be rectified in future studies. Species were coded according to Lö tters et al (2003b).…”