The Herpetological Journal

pp. 219-224

Authors: Geiziane Tessarolo, Natan Medeiros Maciel, Alessandro Ribeiro Morais & Rogério Pereira Bastos

Abstract: Anuran advertisement calls receive much attention because of their importance in mating behaviour and the recognition of conspecifics. Herein, we studied geographic variation in the advertisement call of Dendropsophus cruzi from central Brazil, to test the hypothesis that between-population differences in call parameters can be explained by geographical distance. We recorded 129 individuals from 10 populations of D. cruzi in Goiás State, Brazil, measuring call parameters of five calls of each individual. We found that dominant frequency is useful to distinguish populations, and that geographic distance is not a predictor of overall call differences. However, clinal geographical patterns were found for call duration, dominant frequency, call rate and snout-vent length (SVL). We suggest that differences in calls among populations can be due to local selective pressures.

 Key words: Anuran, dominant frequency, geographical patterns, isolation by distance