Parental investment, potential reproductive rates, and mating system in the strawberry dart-poison frog, Dendrobates pumilio

Pröhl, Heike; Hödl, Walter

doi:10.1007/s002650050612

Cited by 141 publications

(141 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Sexual selection could be important in O. pumilio, because females provide their tadpoles with nutritional eggs for several weeks, whereas male care is limited to guarding and moistening the eggs for a few days until hatching (15,25). This asymmetry in parental investment is consistent with strong female mate discrimination (26).…”

supporting

confidence: 51%

Sexual dimorphism and directional sexual selection on aposematic signals in a poison frog

Maan

Cummings

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

172

195

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It is commonly assumed that natural selection imposed by predators is the prevailing force driving the evolution of aposematic traits. Here, we demonstrate that aposematic signals are shaped by sexual selection as well. We evaluated sexual selection for coloration brightness in populations of the poison frog Oophaga [Dendrobates] pumilio in Panama's Bocas del Toro archipelago. We assessed female preferences for brighter males by manipulating the perceived brightness of spectrally matched males in two-way choice experiments. We found strong female preferences for bright males in two island populations and weaker or ambiguous preferences in females from mainland populations. Spectral reflectance measurements, coupled with an O. pumilio-specific visual processing model, showed that O. pumilio coloration was significantly brighter in island than in mainland morphs. In one of the island populations (Isla Solarte), males were significantly more brightly colored than females. Taken together, these results provide evidence for directional sexual selection on aposematic coloration and document sexual dimorphism in vertebrate warning coloration. Although aposematic signals have long been upheld as exemplars of natural selection, our results show that sexual selection should not be ignored in studies of aposematic evolution.aposematism ͉ color ͉ dendrobates ͉ divergence ͉ polymorphism

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supporting

confidence: 51%

Sexual dimorphism and directional sexual selection on aposematic signals in a poison frog

Maan

Cummings

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

172

195

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“…Among dendrobatids, multiple clutches at the same site have been reported for E. flavopictus (Toledo et al 2004; present study) and for Colostethus nidicola (Caldwell & Lima, 2003). This association between the male and the egg laying site may be indicative of the existence of parental care in the egg phase in these species, as already recognized in other species of the family (Weygoldt 1987, Pröhl & Hödl 1999). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…Good quality territories usually result in access to more females (Heying 2001) and in greater offspring survival (Pröhl & Hödl 1999). Territoriality, as evidenced by site fidelity in E. flavopictus, is expected in those prolongedbreeding frogs, and egg deposition usually occurs in defended areas (Wells 1977).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Courtship, vocalization, and tadpole description of Epipedobates flavopictus (Anura: Dendrobatidae) in southern Goiás, Brazil

2006

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Epipedobates flavopictus is a diurnal, aposematic dendrobatid with a wide distribution in seasonal wet tropical regions of Brazil. We describe the daily period of vocalization, advertisement call, courtship behavior, and tadpole of E. flavopictus from a previously unknown population in southern Goiás and compare theses features with that of other populations. Studies were carried out in November (2004) and February (2005). We counted the number of calling males and duration of calling bouts in the morning and evening periods. The advertisement call was recorded with a digital recorder. Tadpole description was based on specimens collected in pools. Males called from well-illuminated sites such as rocky fields, rain channels, and borders of riverine forests. In November, males vocalized daily during two distinct periods, between 04:30 h and 10:00 h and between 16:30 h and 20:00 h. Morning temperature varied between 20-23ºC and humidity from 79-89%; during evening varied between 24-27ºC and 54-82%. In the middle of the day, temperature reached 36ºC and humidity 40%. During the morning, call activity was almost uninterrupted, in the evening calling bouts lasted around 9 min. In February, even with the occurrence of rainfall and temperatures similar to that of November no frog vocalized. The advertisement call is composed by a single note with 7-8 pulses with frequency ascending slightly from 3.20 to 4.05 kHz. Note duration was 144 ms, and between note intervals is 292 ms. Notes are given at a rate of 139 per minute. Upon observing the female, the male began to emit courtship call. The female approached the male and touched him laterally with her snout. The male moved forward and raised his hindquarters by stretching his hind legs. While leading the female, the male continued to give courtship and advertisement calls. The male clasped the female in axillary amplexus, and the pair entered a hole in a bank. The female deposited eggs on the surface of the soil, spreading them in groups. The egg clutches had eggs in at least two developmental stages, recently deposited and with embryos. Tadpoles were found in small, shallow rocky pools along a permanent stream, in well-illuminated sites at the forest border. The tadpole had the dorsal fin arched, not extending onto body. E. flavopictus appears to be unique among dendrobatids by using open areas subject to high temperatures and low humidity. Reproductive activity of the species ends before the end of the rainy season, possibly to avoid loss of tadpoles during months with unpredictable rainfall. The studied call had more notes and shorter between-call intervals than those described from other populations. The free-living tadpoles we describe differ from those of other populations by having the dorsal fin reduced.

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“…One form of agonistic interaction between animals, aggressive behavior, occurs when one individual attempts to acquire a contested resource, such as a territory, at the expense of another (6). Although intraspecific fighting has been observed under natural conditions during territorial interactions between male frogs (7)(8)(9), it has heretofore not been possible to evoke this behavior under controlled experimental conditions in any amphibian. This inability is in contrast to the situation in birds, for which a skin mounted in a life-like position (10), or just a simple tuft of breast feathers attached by wires to a perch (11), is sufficient to evoke clear aggressive behavior in some species.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bimodal signal requisite for agonistic behavior in a dart-poison frog,Epipedobatesfemoralis

Narins

Hödl

Grabul

2003

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

231

200

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Animal acoustic signals play seminal roles in mate attraction and regulation of male spacing, maintenance of pairbonds, localization of hosts by parasites, and feeding behavior. Among vertebrate signals, it is becoming clear that no single stereotyped signal feature reliably elicits species-specific behavior, but rather, that a suite of characters is involved. Within the largely nocturnal clade of anuran amphibians, the dart-poison frog, Epipedobates femoralis, is a diurnal species that physically and vigorously defends its calling territory against conspecific intruders. Here we report that physical attacks by a territorial male are provoked only in response to dynamic bimodal stimuli in which the acoustic playback of vocalizations is coupled with vocal sac pulsations, but not by either unimodal cues presented in isolation or static bimodal stimuli. These results suggest that integration of dynamic bimodal cues is necessary to elicit aggression in this species.animal communication ͉ territorial defense ͉ anuran ͉ amphibian ͉ Dendrobatidae

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Parental investment, potential reproductive rates, and mating system in the strawberry dart-poison frog, Dendrobates pumilio

Cited by 141 publications

References 24 publications

Sexual dimorphism and directional sexual selection on aposematic signals in a poison frog

Sexual dimorphism and directional sexual selection on aposematic signals in a poison frog

Courtship, vocalization, and tadpole description of Epipedobates flavopictus (Anura: Dendrobatidae) in southern Goiás, Brazil

Bimodal signal requisite for agonistic behavior in a dart-poison frog,Epipedobatesfemoralis

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