Variação geográfica no canto de anúncio de Aplastodiscus perviridis Lutz, 1950 (Anura: Hylidae)

Abstract

Acoustic signals represent the main form of communication in most species of anurans. The advertisement call is the vocalization most frequently emitted by males during the reproductive period. The properties of the advertisement call can be influenced by biotic and abiotic factors, these factors can vary between sites, and then, calls variation can occur. Studies of anuran advertisement call geographic variation are limited. Thus, this study aimed to verify the variation existence in the acoustic parameters of the advertisement call from Aplastodiscus perviridis throughout the geographic distribution in Brazil, and to evaluate the influence of air temperature on the temporal parameters of the advertisement call from this species. We obtained 27 recordings of A. perviridis from five states (MG, SP, PR, SC and RS). Bioacoustic analyses were performed using Raven Pro software, and statistical analyses were performed using R software. To test the difference in acoustic parameters between the different populations, an ANOSIM was performed with Bray-Curtis index, and an NMDS to highlight the formation of the groups. And to evaluate the influence of air temperature on temporal acoustic parameters, a linear regression analysis was performed. There was no influence of air temperature on the temporal parameters of advertisement call. However, there were significant differences in the acoustic parameters between populations from different locations (p < 0,001). This difference is believed to be related to geographic variation. However, considering that studies on song variation in several anuran species are still limited, it is recommended that further work be conducted to investigate differences in advertisement call, as they may inform possible cryptic species, especially considering those with wide geographic distributions. This work indicated the formation of groups of A. perviridis, therefore, integrated studies of genetics and morphology are needed, as they may establish the existence of further population differences.