Notes on the breeding behaviour of the Neotropical toadlet Dendrophryniscus brevipollicatus (Anura: Bufonidae), a bromeliad phytotelmata specialist

Abstract

Anurans are considered to have the greatest diversity of reproductive modes among the major groups of terrestrial vertebrates. In the Bufonidae, oviposition can occur in pools and give rise to exotrophic tadpoles (e.g., the genus Rhinella) or it may be more specialized with a tendency toward terrestriality, with egg deposition and endotrophic tadpoles in phytotelmata (e.g., some species in the genera Dendrophryniscus, Frostius, and Melanophryniscus). Dendrophryniscus brevipollicatus is widely distributed in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil, and has a life cycle that is completely associated with bromeliads. Data about the reproductive biology of the genus Dendrophryniscus are almost non-existent. Our main goal was to describe aspects of the reproductive behaviour of D. brevipollicatus from field observations made at six different localities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. We recorded, for the first time, 17 individuals of D. brevipollicatus exhibiting behaviours that suggest the occurrence of parental care in the form of egg attendance or tadpole attendance. Furthermore, we report male-male mate competition for the genus Dendrophryniscus, in which a single male tried to displace an amplexed male.