Call variability, stereotypy and relationships in syntopy of tetraploid common lesser escuerzo (Anura: genus Odontophrynus)

GRENAT, PABLO R.; VALETTI, JULIÁN A.; MARTINO, ADOLFO L.

ZOOLOGISCHER ANZEIGER

ELSEVIER GMBH

Año: 2017 vol. 268 p. 143 - 150

0044-5231

We studied patternsof the geographic variation of mating calls of the common lesser escuerzo Odontophrynus americanus includingpopulations living in syntopy with the closely related O. cordobae and adjacent allopatric populations. The dominantfrequency, pulse rate, call duration and pulses/call showed the lowestintra-individual variation (CV<3%). The discriminant function analysis (DFA)assigned 88% of all calls to the correct individual, indicating that theadvertisement calls of O. americanusare individually distinctive. Call duration, pulses per call and the dominantfrequency were likely related to individual distinctiveness. Pulse rate and pulsetemporal parameters related consistently showed the lowest values of CVb/CVwratio and could be considered key properties for species recognition in O. americanus. We found a greater calldivergence between species in syntopy than in allopatry in terms of the pulserate and particularly the interpulse interval. These resultsappear to be consistent with a pattern of reproductive character displacement. Further studies testingfemale selectivity should be essentialto evaluate whether acoustic differencesobserved between syntopic and allopatric populations are biologically significantand if there are differences in selectivity between such areas.