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"Hyla"
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A new reproductive mode in anurans: Natural history of Bokermannohyla astartea
Anurans have the greatest diversity of reproductive modes among tetrapod vertebrates, with at least 41 being currently recognized. We describe a new reproductive mode for anurans, as exhibited by the Paranapiacaba Treefrog, Bokermannohyla astartea, an endemic and poorly known species of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest belonging to the B. circumdata group. We also describe other aspects of its reproductive biology, that are relevant to understanding the new reproductive mode, such as courtship behavior, spawning, and tadpoles. Additionally, we redescribe its advertisement call and extend its vocal repertoire by describing three additional call types: courtship, amplectant, and presumed territorial. The new reproductive mode exhibited by B. astartea consists of: (1) deposition of aquatic eggs in leaf-tanks of terrestrial or epiphytic bromeliads located on or over the banks of temporary or permanent streams; (2) exotrophic tadpoles remain in the leaf-tanks during initial stages of development (until Gosner stage 26), after which they presumably jump or are transported to streams after heavy rains that flood their bromeliad tanks; and (3) tadpole development completes in streams. The tadpoles of B. astartea are similar to those of other species of the B. circumdata group, although with differences in the spiracle, eyes, and oral disc. The vocal repertoire of B. astartea exhibits previously unreported acoustic complexity for the genus. Bokermannohyla astartea is the only bromeligenous species known to date among the 187 known species within the tribe Cophomantini. We further discuss evolutionary hypotheses for the origin of this novel reproductive mode.
Journal Article
DNA Barcoding of Tree Frogs: Testing the Existence of Two Mitochondrial Lineages of Hyla savignyi
DNA barcoding is a popular approach that can aid in identifying species and has led to the discovery of many new amphibian species. In this study, we first performed DNA barcoding for two Hylidae family representatives (
Hyla orientalis
and
Hyla savignyi
) in the Anatolia region of Türkiye. Five species delineation tests (ABGD, GMYC, PTP, RESL, and statistical parsimony analysis) were applied, and four of them indicated that three mitochondrial lineages of Hylidae are present in Anatolia. Intraspecific genetic distances (K2P) ranged from 0.0014 to 0.0045, while the interspecific genetic distances ranged from 0.0753 to 0.1933. According to the tree topologies obtained from maximum likelihood (ML) within
H. savignyi
from Anatolia, two lineages can be differentiated, and further investigation is warranted as to whether these lineages represent distinct species.
Journal Article
A new species of the Dendropsophus decipiens Group
We describe a new species of the Dendropsophus decipiens Group, morphologically most resembling D. haddadi but genetically more closely related to D. oliveirai and likely endemic from the Atlantic Forest biome, northeastern Brazil. The new species can be distinguished from all species of the D. decipiens Group based on the combination of morphological features, advertisement call and phylogenetic position based on mitochondrial DNA gene sequences. The new species emits simple calls in series of 3-9 notes, each with 9-29 pulses, and dominant frequency varying from 5578-6422 Hz, and exhibit a minimum of 8% genetic distance (16S mitochondrial gene) in comparison to its congeners. The new taxa represent the sixth species of the D. decipiens Group, which likely harbors more undescribed taxa, corroborating the view that Neotropical species richness is fairly underestimated.
Journal Article
A new snouted treefrog
Southern Amazonia is one of the less-explored regions by anuran taxonomists. We describe a small new species of snouted treefrog, genus Scinax, from this region, from a fluvial archipelago in the Juruena River, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. The description is based on external morphology of adults and tadpoles, advertisement call and molecular data. The species is phylogenetically related to other snouted treefrogs of the Scinax cruentomma species group and shows the most southeastern distribution in Amazonia among its close relatives. It is distinguished from congeners mainly by its larger adult body size and bilobate vocal sac that reaches the level of the pectoral fold, a reddish-brown horizontal stripe on the iris, dark melanophores or blotches on the vocal sac and the throat of females, and the uniformly brown posterior portion of the thigh. The advertisement call comprises one pulsed note emitted at regular intervals, with a duration of 189-227 ms, 30-35 pulses/note and a dominant frequency of 2,250-2,344 Hz. The type locality is suffering several environmental impacts, including illegal mining, overfishing, unsustainable agriculture, uncontrolled logging and degradation associated with the construction of new hydroelectric dams. Further study of the biology and regional distribution of the new species is required to propose mitigation measures needed for its conservation.
Journal Article
Ecological strategies predict associations between aquatic and genetic connectivity for dryland amphibians
The study of how population genetic structure is shaped by attributes of the environment is a central scientific pursuit in ecology and conservation. But limited resources may prohibit landscape genetics studies for many threatened species, particularly given the pace of current environmental change. Understanding the extent to which species' ecological strategies-their life histories, biology, and behavior-predict patterns and drivers of population connectivity is a critical step in evaluating the potential of multi-taxa inference in landscape genetics. We present results of a landscape genetic study of three dryland amphibians: the canyon treefrog (
Hyla arenicolor
), red-spotted toad (
Anaxyrus punctatus
), and Mexican spadefoot (
Spea multiplicata
). These species characterize a range of ecological strategies, driven primarily by different water dependencies, enabling amphibian survival in arid and semiarid environments. We examined a suite of hypothesized relationships between genetic connectivity and landscape connectivity across species. We found a positive relationship between population differentiation and water dependency, e.g., longer larval development periods and site fidelity for reliable water sources. We also found that aquatic connectivity is important for all species, particularly when considered with topography (slope). The effect of spatial scale varied by species, with canyon treefrogs and Mexican spadefoots characterized by relatively consistent results at different scales in contrast to the stark differences in results for red-spotted toads at different scales. Using ecological information to predict relationships between genetic and landscape connectivity is a promising approach for multi-taxa inference and may help inform conservation efforts where single-species genetic studies are not possible.
Journal Article
Evolution of personality and locomotory performance traits during a late Pleistocene island colonization in a tree frog
Abstract
Recent empirical and theoretical studies suggest that personality and locomotory performance traits linked to dispersal abilities are crucial components of the dispersal syndromes, and that they can evolve during range expansions and colonization processes. Island colonization is one of the best characterized processes in dispersal biogeography, and its implication in the evolution of phenotypic traits has been investigated over a wide range of temporal scales. However, the effect of island colonization on personality and performance traits of natural populations, and how these traits could drive island colonization, has been little explored. Noteworthy, no studies have addressed these processes in the context of late Pleistocene range expansions. Here, we investigated the contribution of island colonization triggered by postglacial range expansions to intraspecific variation in personality and locomotory performance traits. We compared boldness, exploration, jumping performance, and stickiness abilities in populations from 3 equidistant areas of the Tyrrhenian tree frog Hyla sarda, 2 from the main island (Corsica Island), and 1 from the recently colonized island of Elba. Individuals from Elba were significantly bolder than individuals from Corsica, as they emerged sooner from a shelter (P = 0.028), while individuals from Corsica showed markedly higher jumping and stickiness performance (both P < 0.001), resulting as more performing than those of Elba. We discuss these results in the context of the major microevolutionary processes at play during range expansion, including selection, spatial sorting, founder effects, and their possible interaction with local adaptation processes.
Journal Article
The use and preference towards different artificial shelters by European tree frog (Hyla arborea) in Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve
Monitoring amphibians in non-breeding habitats is often constrained by low detectability and potential disturbance to sensitive ecosystems. We tested the effectiveness of artificial shelters - PVC pipes - as a non-invasive method for monitoring the European tree frog (Hyla arborea) outside the breeding season in Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve (Koper, Slovenia). Over three years (2022–2024), we installed 40- and 50-mm diameter shelters at 24 sites and conducted regular inspections. A total of 338 encounters were recorded, with frogs of all sizes using the shelters. Overall shelter occupancy declined across years, likely reflecting a combination of factors including reduced recruitment, vegetation changes, and demographic fluctuations. Preference analysis revealed a statistically significant, consistent trend: narrower (40-mm) shelters were used 1.6 to 1.7 times more often than wider (50-mm) ones, despite no significant difference in the body size of frogs occupying each type. With this approach, we greatly enhanced the detectability of Hyla arborea in the Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve compared to classical monitoring methods such as acoustic surveys or netting. Importantly, a non-invasive approach using artificial shelters minimized the risk of disturbance to breeding and migratory birds, which is essential in areas with high avifaunal conservation value. Our results support the broader use of artificial shelters for monitoring arboreal amphibians in ecologically sensitive areas and suggest future research should explore finer-scale shelter design to improve detection and ecological interpretation across life stages.
Journal Article
Female preferences for the spectral content of advertisement calls in Cope’s gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis)
Amphibians have inner ears with two sensory papillae tuned to different frequency ranges of airborne sounds. In frogs, male advertisement calls possess distinct spectral components that match the tuning of one or both sensory papillae. Female preferences for the spectral content of advertisement calls can depend on signal amplitude and can vary among closely related lineages. In this study of Cope’s gray tree frog (Hyla chrysoscelis), we investigated the amplitude dependence of female preferences for the spectral content of male advertisement calls, which have a “bimodal” spectrum with separate low-frequency (1.25 kHz) and high-frequency (2.5 kHz) components. In two-alternative choice tests, females generally preferred synthetic calls with bimodal spectra over “unimodal” calls having only one of the two spectral components. They also preferred unimodal calls with a high-frequency component over one with the low-frequency component. With few exceptions, preferences were largely independent of amplitude across both a 30 dB range of overall signal amplitude and an 11 dB range in the relative amplitudes of the two spectral components. We discuss these results in the context of evolutionary lability in female preferences for the spectral content of advertisement calls in North American tree frogs in the genus Hyla.
Journal Article