Acoustic Repertoire of Melanophryniscus cupreuscapularis (Céspedez and Álvarez 2000) (Anura: Bufonidae): Advertisement, Encounter, and Release Calls.

DURÉ MARTA I.; SCHAEFER, EDUARDO F.; KEHR, ARTURO I.

JOURNAL OF HERPETOLOGY

SOC STUDY AMPHIBIANS REPTILES

Lugar: Salt Lake City; Año: 2015 vol. 49 p. 53 - 59

0022-1511

ABSTRACT.We describe the vocal repertoire of Melanophryniscus cupreuscapularis, a bufonid toad of the Melanophryniscus stelzneri species group, which has been recently listed as Vulnerable by the Asociación Herpetológica Argentina. Recordings were obtained in Paraje El Perichón a relict of Schinopsis balansae (quebracho) forest near Corrientes City, Argentina, in September 2007. We provide data on the structure and frequency of three kinds of vocalization: the advertisement, the encounter, and the release calls. We found that the advertisement call is formed by two distinct sections: a first segment consisting of short emissions, usually grouped, and a fast trill. We found that the encounter call is also composed of two segments but that the number of simple emissions in the first segment is greater and more variable (6-60)than in the advertisement call, and the emissions are ungrouped. Although the dominant frequency was similar to the advertisement call, the encounter call frequency was 2,184 Hz (range: 1,832-2,482). The release call is composed of isolated emissions emitted at a lower frequency (1,798 Hz, range: 1,712-1,926) than are the other calls. The structure of the advertisement call was similar to that of other species of the stelzneri group.