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

Text Ringler__Himmel_et_al_2022_-_Male_life_history.pdf - Published Version Restricted to registered users only Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (4MB)

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.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

3 since deposited on 23 Nov 2022
1 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item