Male life history of a harlequin toad population in French Guiana

Ringler, Max; Himmel, Tanja; Werner, Philine; Luger, Martina; Rößler, Daniela C.; Ringler, Eva; Lötters, Stefan (2022). Male life history of a harlequin toad population in French Guiana. Salamandra, 58(3), pp. 171-186. DGHT

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Harlequin toads (Atelopus spp.) constitute one of the most threatened amphibian clades worldwide, yet much of their life history remains poorly understood. These anurans are strongly associated with stream environments, which are used for reproduction and occupied by males throughout the year, while only visited by females during the reproduction season. We studied a population of the Atelopus flavescens complex in French Guiana. We describe male population density, habitat use, site fidelity and movement, as well as home range behaviour – all prior to the arrival of females. We also present further natural history observations such as nocturnal resting sites and anecdotal observations of females. Our findings suggest that in this lowland population of Atelopus, males maintain territories for a relatively long time compared to other species. Within them, they acoustically compete for females, which they attempt to clasp for amplexus when they arrive later in the season on their way to the breeding sites.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) > Behavioural Ecology
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE)

UniBE Contributor:

Ringler, Max, Ringler, Eva

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology
500 Science > 590 Animals (Zoology)

ISSN:

0036-3375

Publisher:

DGHT

Language:

English

Submitter:

Max Ringler

Date Deposited:

23 Nov 2022 14:12

Last Modified:

02 May 2023 15:08

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/175091

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/175091

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