Diversity and evolution of sexually dimorphic mental and lateral glands in Cophomantini treefrogs (Anura: Hylidae: Hylinae)

BRUNETTI, ANDRÉS E; HERMIDA, GLADYS N.; LUNA, M. CELESTE; BARSOTTI, ADRIANA M. G.; JARED, CARLOS; ANTONIAZZI, MARTA M.; RIVERA-CORREA, MAURICIO; BERNECK, BIANCA V. M.; FAIVOVICH, JULIAN

BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2015 vol. 114 p. 12 - 34

0024-4066

We describe the structure and histochemistry of mental and lateral glands in a representative array of 28 species offive genera of the Neotropical hylid frog tribe Cophomantini. Structural diversity was coded in 15 characters thatwere optimized on the most recent phylogenetic hypothesis. Mental and lateral glands occur in 17 species and 10species, respectively, whereas nine species have both. Each glandular concentration may have two types of sexuallydimorphic skin glands (SDSGs), specialized mucous and specialized serous glands, which occur independently or may co-occur. Distinctive characteristics related to these glands are shape, aspect of the secretion, disposition, anddistribution. The occurrences of mental and lateral glands, and the characters derived from macroscopic andmicroscopic examinations, have an intricate taxonomic distribution, with differing levels of homoplasy. The functionof SDSGs in Cophomantini is currently unknown. However, based on structural and histochemical similarities toSDSGs from other species of amphibians where experimental evidence exists, we infer they might be involved in thesecretion of chemical signals during courtship behaviour. The distribution pattern of these glands, along with theexistence of different signals (i.e. acoustic, visual, tactile), suggests the presence of multimodal signalling for somespecies of the tribe