Dataset Information

Acoustic divergence in advertisement calls among three sympatric Microhyla species from East China.

ABSTRACT: Background:Species-specific advertisement calls are the main mechanism of transmitting information between individuals in anuran amphibians and are therefore indispensable for anuran survival and reproduction. Survey methods that monitor these calls can be used for rapid species recognition, behavioral experiments, and conservation monitoring. In this study, we described in detail 10 call parameters from three sympatric species in the genus Microhyla and analyzed the differences in call parameter among these species to provide a basis for systematic monitoring, acoustic analysis and taxonomic study of this genus. Methods:The quantitative analyses of temporal and spectral call parameters were used in our study for the advertisement calls of three sympatric Microhyla species (M. beilunensis, M. fissipes and M. heymonsi) in Zhejiang Province, East China. Results:Our results showed the following: (1) Significant differences existed among the three sympatric Microhyla species in call duration (CD), call interval (CI), number of pulses (NP), pulse rate, call intensity (CIT), dominant frequency (DF) and frequency of the first to fourth formants (F1, F2, F3 and F4). (2) Some spectral parameters (DF, F1 and F3) were negatively correlated with the body size of the vocalizing individuals in each species. (3) The coefficients of variation within individuals (CVw) for CIT, DF and F1-F4 were smaller than 5%, whereas the CVW for CI was larger than 10% in each species. (4) The principal component analysis and discriminant function analysis showed that call parameters could distinguish the three Microhyla species. (5) The phylogenetic generalized least squares analysis showed that phylogenetic relationships affected CD and NP against snout-vent length (SVL), DF and NP against CD, and NP against DF, but not of DF against SVL; based on the phylogenetic analysis, CD and NP were not related to SVL, but DF was negatively related to SVL.

SUBMITTER: Chen ZQ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7071819 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Acoustic divergence in advertisement calls among three sympatric <i>Microhyla</i> species from East China.

Chen Zhi-Qiang ZQ Lin You-Fu YF Tang Yun Y Ding Guo-Hua GH Wu Yan-Qing YQ Lin Zhi-Hua ZH

PeerJ 20200311

<h4>Background</h4>Species-specific advertisement calls are the main mechanism of transmitting information between individuals in anuran amphibians and are therefore indispensable for anuran survival and reproduction. Survey methods that monitor these calls can be used for rapid species recognition, behavioral experiments, and conservation monitoring. In this study, we described in detail 10 call parameters from three sympatric species in the genus <i>Microhyla</i> and analyzed the differences i ...[more]

PMID: 32201644

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Project description:BackgroundAnuran vocalizations, especially their advertisement calls, are largely species-specific and can be used to identify taxonomic affiliations. Because anurans are not vocal learners, their vocalizations are generally assumed to have a strong genetic component. This suggests that the degree of similarity between advertisement calls may be related to large-scale phylogenetic relationships. To test this hypothesis, advertisement calls from 90 species belonging to four large clades (Bufo, Hylinae, Leptodactylus, and Rana) were analyzed. Phylogenetic distances were estimated based on the DNA sequences of the 12S mitochondrial ribosomal RNA gene, and, for a subset of 49 species, on the rhodopsin gene. Mean values for five acoustic parameters (coefficient of variation of root-mean-square amplitude, dominant frequency, spectral flux, spectral irregularity, and spectral flatness) were computed for each species. We then tested for phylogenetic signal on the body-size-corrected residuals of these five parameters, using three statistical tests (Moran's I, Mantel, and Blomberg's K) and three models of genetic distance (pairwise distances, Abouheif's proximities, and the variance-covariance matrix derived from the phylogenetic tree).ResultsA significant phylogenetic signal was detected for most acoustic parameters on the 12S dataset, across statistical tests and genetic distance models, both for the entire sample of 90 species and within clades in several cases. A further analysis on a subset of 49 species using genetic distances derived from rhodopsin and from 12S broadly confirmed the results obtained on the larger sample, indicating that the phylogenetic signals observed in these acoustic parameters can be detected using a variety of genetic distance models derived either from a variable mitochondrial sequence or from a conserved nuclear gene.ConclusionsWe found a robust relationship, in a large number of species, between anuran phylogenetic relatedness and acoustic similarity in the advertisement calls in a taxon with no evidence for vocal learning, even after correcting for the effect of body size. This finding, covering a broad sample of species whose vocalizations are fairly diverse, indicates that the intense selection on certain call characteristics observed in many anurans does not eliminate all acoustic indicators of relatedness. Our approach could potentially be applied to other vocal taxa.

Project description:Vocalizing behavior of frogs and toads, once quantified, is useful for systematics, rapid species identification, behavioral experimentation and conservation monitoring. But yet, for many lineages vocalizations remain unknown or poorly quantified, especially in diversity rich tropical regions. Here we provide a quantitative acoustical analysis for all four Sri Lankan congeners of the genus Microhyla. Three of these species are endemic to the island, but Microhyla ornata is regionally widespread. Two of these endemics, M. karunaratnei (Critically Endangered) and M. zeylanica (Endangered), are highly threatened montane isolates; the other, M. mihintalei, is relatively common across the dry lowlands. We recorded and analyzed 100 advertisement calls from five calling males for each species, except for M. zeylanica, which only had 53 calls from three males suitable for analyses. All four species call in choruses and their vocal repertoires are simple compared to most frogs. Their calls contain multiple pulses and no frequency modulation. We quantified eight call characters. Call duration and number of pulses were higher for the two montane isolates (inhabiting cooler habitats at higher altitudes) compared to their lowland congeners. Microhyla zeylanica has the longest call duration (of 1.8 ± 0.12 s) and the highest number of pulses (of 61-92 pulses). The smallest of the species, Microhyla karunaratnei (16.2-18.3 mm), has the highest mean dominant frequency (3.3 ± 0.14 kHz) and pulse rate (77 ± 5.8 pulses per second). The calls separate well in the Principal Component space: PC1 axis is mostly explained by the number of pulses per call and call duration; PC2 is mostly explained by the pulse rate. A canonical means plot of a Discriminant Function analysis shows non-overlapping 95% confidence ellipses. This suggests that some call parameters can be used to distinguish these species effectively. We provide detailed descriptions for eight call properties and compare these with congeners for which data is available. This work provides a foundation for comparative bioacoustic analyses and species monitoring while facilitating the systematics of Microhyla across its range.

Dataset Information

Acoustic divergence in advertisement calls among three sympatric Microhyla species from East China.

Publications

Acoustic divergence in advertisement calls among three sympatric <i>Microhyla</i> species from East China.

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