Advertisement call, tadpole morphology, and other natural history aspects of the threatened poison frog Andinobates daleswansoni (Dendrobatidae)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Describing natural history of species is important because it would allow us to corroborate hypotheses about evolutionary biology and improve conservations plans. We describe the advertisement call, tadpole morphology, and other natural history aspects of the poison frog Andinobates daleswansoni, an endemic threatened species of the Colombian Andes. The advertisement call consists of multiple pulsed notes, with an average dominant frequency of 4052.81 ± 154.93 Hz. This call sounds similar to the call of other Andinobates frogs, but there are clear differences in spectral and temporal features. Tadpoles have a depressed body, low compressed dorsal and ventral tail fins with a rounded tip. The oral disc has a labial tooth row formula of 2(2)/3(1), and a gap in the marginal papillae of the lower lip, whose status as a synapomorphy for the group A. bombetes is discussed. Like other poison frogs, the diet of A. daleswansoni consists of small arthropods (Acari, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera) that individuals capture in leaflitter. We recorded tadpole transport by males to phytotelmata in the Elephant Ear plant (Xanthosoma robustum) which demonstrate that A. daleswansoni has a greater niche breadth for tadpole development than previously recorded. Acoustic interactions and physical fights observed during an agonistic behaviour on the part of two males of A. daleswansoni is similar to those recorded in other poison frogs and possible associated to the occupation of resources such as availability of prey items and places for breeding.