IADIZA   20886
INSTITUTO ARGENTINO DE INVESTIGACIONES DE LAS ZONAS ARIDAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Prolonged larval development in the Critically Endangered Pehuenche's frog Alsodes pehuenche: implications for conservation
Autor/es:
CORBALÁN, V.; DEBANDI, G.; MARTÍNEZ, F.; ÚBEDA, C.
Revista:
AMPHIBIA-REPTILIA
Editorial:
BRILL ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS
Referencias:
Lugar: Leiden; Año: 2014 p. 283 - 292
ISSN:
0173-5373
Resumen:
Overwintering is an anuran strategy to survive in cold-temperate climates. Those
aquatic species that withstand harsh conditions and short growing seasons are
candidates for having long larval periods. Prolonged larval development, which includes overwintering for more than two years, has been reported for North-American
and Euro-Asiatic species, but this strategy has been poorly studied in the Southern
Hemisphere. Alsodes pehuenche is an endemic frog from the high Andes mountains of
Argentina and Chile, recently categorized as Endangered by the Asociación
Herpetológica Argentina (AHA) and as Critically Endangered by the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). We studied egg laying in this species and its
larval development by marking tadpoles with elastomers. We found that eggs are laid in
clumps at the beginning of summer. The larval cycle includes four winters, although a
fifth winter should not be ruled out. This is the first study that demonstrates a long
larval development (four winters) in South-American species and has important
implications for conservation biology.