Diet of Physalaemus biligonigerus (Cope, 1861, «1860») and Eleutherodactylus platydactylus (Boulenger, 1903) (Anura: Leiuperidae, Brachycephalidae) from Bolivia and Paraguay

Dennis Rödder

Abstract


I studied the stomach contents of 58 Physalaemus biligonigerus and 57 Eleutherodactylus platydactylus based on specimens housed in the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany. The diet of E. platydactylus was dominated by arthropods, with Coleopterans (20%) followed by Hymenoptera (30.9%) being the most frequently consumed food items. The diet of P. biligonigerus consists of a variety of arthropods with Isopterans being the main part. Looking at the frequency of occurrence, Isopterans (29.4%) and Coleopterans (14.7%) are the food items found most often. According to the number of prey items found, the diet of P. biligonigerus is dominated by Isopterans (83.5%), other arthropods were found in very small percentages (from 4.4 to 0.3%). Diet analyses revealed that P. biligonigerus has a narrow trophic niche breath preferring colonial terrestrial arthropods like Isoptera whereas E. platydactylus has a wide trophic niche breath preying on a great diversity of arthropods. Cluster analyses allow the hypotheses that trophic ontogeny in both species occur.

Keywords


Physalaemus biligonigerus; Eleutherodactylus platydactylus; diet; Bolivia; Paraguay

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2008-15-2-117-121

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