Abstract
Tropical anuran communities are very diverse. Nevertheless, much of their ecological and historical processes remain unknown. Bioacoustical studies are important to help to solve these puzzles. In the present study we examined the effect of environmental (air temperature and humidity) and morphological (body size) attributes on the acoustic parameters of two frogs of the Hypsiboas albopunctatus species group (H. albopunctatus and H. paranaiba ) living in sympatry and allopatry in the Brazilian cerrado. We also investigated if the presence of one species influences the spatial distribution or vocal behaviour of the other. We found H. albopunctatus and H. paranaiba males emitting advertisement and aggressive calls in sympatry and allopatry. Although the calling behavior of H. paranaiba did not differ in sympatry and allopatry, differences were noted for H. albopunctatus . Bioacoustics is the main form of communication in anurans, and is one of the best ways to discriminate among species. Variations in the calling behavior of males and what drives these variations in both species is central to better understand the processes of specific recognition and female attraction.
Highlights
Acoustic signals are the most evident features of the social behavior of anuran amphibians (Wells 1977a, 2007)
We studied the acoustic repertoire of two species of this group, Hypsiboas albopunctatus (Spix, 1824) and Hypsiboas paranaiba (Carvalho, Giaretta & Facure, 2010), which occur in allopatry and in sympatry
We recorded the calls of 37 males of H. albopunctatus, 27 of which vocalized in the same site as H. paranaiba and 10 in allopatry
Summary
Acoustic signals are the most evident features of the social behavior of anuran amphibians (Wells 1977a, 2007). Among anurans breeding at the same site, heterospecific calls represent a noise that may interfere in the acoustical signal detection by males or females of the same species (Ryan & Brenowitz 1985, Gerhardt & Klump 1988, Narins & Zelick 1988) To prevent such interference, males may choose vocalization sites that promote spatial segregation (Ptacek 1992, Martins et al 2006), or adjust their vocal behavior (Brenowitz 1989, Bastos et al 2011). 1 / 10 morphology (body size) on call structure and b) if the presence of heterospecific individuals influence the spatial distribution, or vocal behavior, of the species involved
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