Chapter 11 - Parental Care, Sexual Selection, and Mating Systems in Neotropical Poison Frogs

Abstract

Tropical frogs exhibit an extraordinary diversity of reproductive strategies, including complex patterns of parental care and mating behavior. The neotropical poison frogs (families Dendrobatidae and Aromobatidae) have parental care in almost all species, and many different types of parental care have evolved, including male, female, and biparental care. These different patterns of care are associated with various aspects of ecology and life history, and with diverse mating strategies and systems. We discuss the ecology and evolution of parental care in the neotropical poison frogs in an evolutionary and ecological context, and discuss how sexual selection affects and is affected by parental care in this clade. We also review theoretical and empirical research on the evolution of parental care, sexual selection, and mating systems. We describe the patterns of parental care and sexual selection in poison frogs in the context of previous theoretical and empirical studies. Finally, we suggest potentially productive directions for future research.