Leptodactylus ocellatus (Rana criolla). Predation

VAIRA, MARCOS; CORIA, GERARDO

HERPETOLOGICAL REVIEW

Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles

Lugar: Clovis, California; Año: 1994 vol. 25 p. 118 - 118

0018-084X

Reviews of the evolution of parental care in frogs cite Leptodactylus ocellatus as one of few documented cases where a female guards a school of tadpoles. Researchers speculated that females protect the tadoples from avian predators. However predation on tadpoles has never been confirmed. We observed natural predation by six great kiskadees (Pitangus sulphuratus) on a school of unattended L. ocellatus tadpoles. Leptodactylus ocellatus tadopoles form conspicuous, thightly packed aggregations that move constantly, making the entire school noticeable to predators requiring visual cues. Such aggregations could be related to the distastefulness of the individuals. However the present observation does not support this hypotesis.