Haddadus binotatus is an endemic anuran of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and currently, there is no information about the diet of this species. We analyzed the diet of two populations of this anuran in two states in southeast Brazil. Samplings were carried out in 2004 in the state of Rio de Janeiro and in 2009 and 2010 in the state of Espírito Santo. Haddadus binotatus presented a rich diet com...

Despite the use of model species to predict the effects of chemicals in the environment, unpredicted variation in levels of risk to organisms from xenobiotics can be observed. Physiological and morphological differences between species and life stages may lead to differences in sensitivity, while seasonal and spatial variation in pesticide concentrations may affect the level of risk faced by or...

What originally appeared to be only an external cast of an anuran 'mummy' from the Quercy Phosphorites (southwestern France) was described as Rana plicata during the 19th century. Its geographical provenance is only vaguely known; therefore its precise age within the Paleogene was uncertain. The taxon was erected on the basis of the external morphology of the specimen, which includes few diagno...

The majority of anuran amphibians (frogs and toads) use acoustic communication to mediate sexual behavior and reproduction. Generally, females find and select their mates using acoustic cues provided by males in the form of conspicuous advertisement calls. In these species, vocal signal production and reception are intimately tied to successful reproduction. Research with anurans has demonstrat...

Multimodal communication of acoustic and visual signals serves a vital role in the mating system of anuran amphibians. To understand signal evolution and function in multimodal signal design it is critical to test receiver responses to unimodal signal components versus multimodal composite signals. We investigated two anuran species displaying a conspicuous foot-flagging behavior in addition to...

Anuran jumping is a model system for linking muscle physiology to organismal performance. However, anuran species display substantial diversity in their locomotion, with some species performing powerful leaps from riverbanks or tree branches, while other species move predominantly via swimming, short hops or even diagonal-sequence gaits. Furthermore, many anurans with similar locomotion and mor...

Lungworms of the cosmopolitan genus Rhabdias are among the most common parasites of amphibians and squamate reptiles. The present study used experimental infections, field studies, and a molecular phylogeny to determine the host specificity of 6 Rhabdias spp. that infect snakes and anurans from North America. The molecular phylogeny suggests Rhabdias ranae from Nebraska and Mississippi may repr...

Sensory receptors transmit information on multiple stimulus dimensions. Much remains to be understood about how the processing of different signal characteristics is partitioned and integrated in different areas of the nervous system. Amphibian hearing involves two morphologically distinct inner-ear organs that process different components of the frequency spectrum. Many anuran signals contain ...

Dopamine is an evolutionarily ancient neurotransmitter that plays an essential role in mediating behavior. In vertebrates, dopamine is central to the mesolimbic reward system, a neural network concerned with the valuation of stimulus salience, and to the nigrostriatal motor system and hypothalamic nuclei involved in the regulation of locomotion and social behavior. In amphibians, dopaminergic n...

Competition among males for a limited number of females may result in the expression of condition-dependent alternative mating tactics. In such cases, decision rules mediating mating tactic expression are likely to be influenced by a male's external as well as internal environment. For example, experimental studies with anuran amphibians (frogs and toads) indicate that changes in the social-aco...