Parental Care among the Amphibia

Abstract

Publisher Summary Despite the fascinating parental care behaviors exhibited by amphibians, relatively few quantitative studies have been published on this class in comparison to birds and mammals. Six modes of parental care are recognized: egg attendance, egg transport, tadpole attendance, tadpole transport, tadpole feeding, and internal gestation in the oviduct. Whereas egg attendance and internal gestation in the oviduct are the only modes of parental care known for caecilians and salamanders, anurans display all six modes. Although parental care is widely distributed phylogenetically within the Amphibia, the percentage of species providing care is low. Postoviposition parental care has been documented in only about 5% of caecilians, 18% of salamanders, and 6% of anurans. Internal gestation in the oviduct probably occurs in about 75% of all caecilians, in 4 species of salamanders, and in 5 species of anurans. Parental care in amphibians is most commonly found in geographical areas of correspondingly high species richness. Increased survivorship of the offspring is the main benefit of parental care, as documented quantitatively by numerous studies. Reduced fitness to the parent, measured by reduced future survival or reproductive success, is the major cost of parental care.