Intraspecific Call Variation in the Mimic Poison Frog Ranitomeya imitator

Abstract

Abstract: Calls are important premating isolating barriers in frogs; therefore, studying intraspecific variation in calls might allow the assessment of patterns of call divergence during the early stages of speciation. Ranitomeya imitator, a species of dart-poison frog (Dendrobatidae), has undergone extensive color-pattern diversification through a Mullerian mimetic radiation, establishing four distinct morphs in north-central Peru (striped, banded, varadero, and spotted). Partial reproductive isolation exists between certain color morphs, although the specific mechanisms responsible for this isolation are poorly understood. We conducted a species-wide analysis of variation in advertisement calls to investigate whether distinct mimetic morphs show advertisement call differences. We found that different color morphs generally show weak or no differences in advertisement calls, with two exceptions. First, call pulse rates differed between the striped and banded morphs, and that difference coincides geograp...