Vocal Repertoire during Reproductive and Aggressive Contexts of Three Brazilian Tree Frogs: Bokermannohyla sapiranga, Hypsiboas albopunctatus and H. goianus (Anura: Hylidae)

Abstract

Abstract. Communication in anurans is mostly mediated by acoustic signals. Depending on the type of social interactions, different call types can be displayed by anurans. The main function of advertisement calls is to attract females, which prefer males whose advertisement calls have high repetition rates. Conversely, territorial calls are used to defend territories. We described the advertisement and territorial calls of Bokermannohyla sapiranga (n = 25 individuals), Hypsiboas albopunctatus (n = 21 individuals) and H. goianus (n = 57 individuals) from the Silvânia National Forest, Cerrado. We tested the hypothesis that advertisement and territorial calls are emitted under different social contexts and are, therefore, structurally distinct. We also assessed the influence of air temperature on call rates. We made recordings during reproductive (spontaneous formation of chorus) and aggressive (presence of intruder male) contexts. To simulate the presence of potential rivals we exposed males to acoustic (aud...