Reproductive biology in a uruguayan population of Elachistocleis bicolor (Guérin-Meneville, 1838) (Anura, Microhylidae)

Elgue, Ernesto - Maneyro, Raúl

Resumen:

This paper describes ecological features of the reproductive biology of a population of Elachistocleis bicolor from Uruguay. From a monthly sample obtained throughout a year, we measured mass of the fat bodies and the ovaries, testicular volume, and estimate fecundity. We found evidence of a relationship between reproductive activity and air temperature, although we cannot rule out photoperiod as a regulator mechanism of the reproductive cycle. The dynamics of fat bodies are independent of the reproductive cycle, since their mass does not vary significantly along the year. We found evidence of sexual dimorphism and dichromatism, expressed by females being largest than males and by dark colored vocal sacs of males, although only present in some of them. Fecundity in females increases with body size, however larger females do not invested most of resources in reproduction.


Este trabajo describe aspectos de la biología reproductiva de una población uruguaya de Elachistocleis bicolor. En una muestra mensual obtenida durante un año, se midió la masa de los cuerpos grasos y ovarios, el volumen testicular y se estimó la fecundidad. Se encontró evidencia que la actividad reproductiva se encuentra correlacionada con la temperatura, sin embargo no podemos descartar al fotoperiodo como regulador del ciclo reproductivo. La dinámica de los cuerpos grasos es independiente del ciclo reproductivo, ya que su masa no varió significativamente durante el año. Se encontró evidencia de dimorfismo y dicromatismo sexual, expresado por el mayor tamaño de las hembras y en la coloración oscura del saco vocal de los machos, aunque sólo presente en algunos de ellos. La fecundidad de las hembras se incrementó con el tamaño corporal; sin embargo, las hembras más grandes no invierten una mayor proporción de sus recursos en la reproducción.


Detalles Bibliográficos
2017
Sexual dimorphism
Reproductive investment
Fat bodies
Dimorfismo sexual
Inversión reproductiva
Cuerpos grasos
Inglés
Universidad de la República
COLIBRI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/25002
Acceso abierto
Licencia Creative Commons Atribución - No Comercial (CC - By-NC 4.0)
Resumen:
Sumario:This paper describes ecological features of the reproductive biology of a population of Elachistocleis bicolor from Uruguay. From a monthly sample obtained throughout a year, we measured mass of the fat bodies and the ovaries, testicular volume, and estimate fecundity. We found evidence of a relationship between reproductive activity and air temperature, although we cannot rule out photoperiod as a regulator mechanism of the reproductive cycle. The dynamics of fat bodies are independent of the reproductive cycle, since their mass does not vary significantly along the year. We found evidence of sexual dimorphism and dichromatism, expressed by females being largest than males and by dark colored vocal sacs of males, although only present in some of them. Fecundity in females increases with body size, however larger females do not invested most of resources in reproduction.