How aggressive calls of a Neotropical treefrog vary among different levels of social tension?

Abstract

The treefrog Pithecopus nordestinus emits aggressive calls during agonistic interactions between males, but how these vocalizations vary between contexts with different levels of aggression remains unknown. Herein, we compared the acoustic parameters of aggressive calls emitted during physical disputes and out of fight contexts. The aggressive calls emitted during physical clashes (Fighting Calls) presented a repetition rate, duration and number of pulses significantly higher than those emitted out of fight contexts. Our results expand the knowledge about acoustic repertoire of Phyllomedusidae treefrogs and contribute to the understanding of the effects of social tension on the vocal behavior of anurans.

KEY WORDS:

• aggressive interaction
• agonistic interaction
• bioacustic
• fighting call
• Pithecopus nordestinus
• physical disputes
• vocalization

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful to Milena Wachlevski and two anonymous referees for critical review of the manuscript, Jefferson Senna by review the English, Rogério Rumão for providing photografs and Frede Lima-Araújo for editing the images. A.C. Brasileiro was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Brasil (CAPES), Finance Code 001. All national guidelines applicable to the care and use of animals were followed (license # 13587 ICMBio).

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION

A.C. Brasileiro and D.C. Passos collected and analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. P. Cascon supervised all stages of the research and revised the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior [Finance Code 001].