Defensive behaviour of The El Rincón Stream Frog, Pleurodema somuncurense (Anura: Leptodactylidae), Patagonia, Argentina

VELASCO, MELINA A.; FERRARO, DAIANA PAOLA; KACOLIRIS, FEDERICO P.

The Herpetological Bulletin

British Herpetological Society

Año: 2023

1473-0928

Anurans have numerous antipredator mechanisms. Within the genus Pleurodema, the antipredator behaviour traditionally named ‘deimatic behavior’ has been described and was reported in several species, but was not reported for P. somuncurense. In this study we applied mechanical stimuli to individuals in their natural habitat and in the laboratory for analyzed whether this species exhibits this behaviour. None of the individuals exhibited this behavior. We during fieldwork, observed that many specimens of P. somuncurense escaped by rapidly submerging into the water. This behaviour antipredator (active escape) is the first report for this species.