Male release calls of two gladiator treefrog species (Cophomantini, Boana faber species group), with an intrageneric acoustic comparison
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35699/2675-5327.2026.64545Keywords:
Acoustic communication, Atlantic Forest, Hylidae, Neotropics, vocal repertoireAbstract
Anurans emit calls that convey different messages, depending on the context of emission. Reproductive calls mediate intraspecific interactions in reproductive contexts, and among these calls, the advertisement call is the most conspicuous and described type of call. It serves to attract mates, signalize aggression between conspecific males, and maintain space between chorus calling frogs. Another reproductive call, the release call, is emitted by males and females to signal non-receptiveness to a conspecific, or not, amplexus. Boana Gray, 1825, is a species-rich genus with a wide distribution in the Neotropical region, and the Boana faber species group (nested within Boana) is composed of nest-building gladiator frogs that use prepollical spines to defend their territory. The advertisement call is known for all species in the B. faber species group; however, the male release call is only known for one species of the group. Furthermore, the male release call is only known for five of the 101 species of Boana. In this study, we describe for the first time the male release call of Boana crepitans and Boana faber. Make intrageneric acoustic comparisons among the known male release calls for Boana. The male release call of both species is composed of a single type of note. Pulsed notes are ubiquitous in B. crepitans, but they can be pulsed, pulsatile, or non-pulsed in B. faber. Besides the temporal envelope, notes presented differences in duration: 209–449 ms in B. crepitans and 5–80 ms in B. faber, and in pulse repetition rate: 19–25 pulses/s in B. crepitans and 147–156 pulses/s in B. faber. Expanding our acoustic comparisons to Boana, we found much variation in the few described release calls for the genus. Our study also reveals the rarity of described male release calls for Boana, and, finally, we expanded the known male release calls descriptions to seven of the 101 known Boana species.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Lucas Vilela de Carvalho Rodrigues, Gabriel Costa Santos, Alejandra María Salazar Guzmán , Lara Carias, Thales Lacerda Araujo, Júlia Samos, Thiago Ribeiro de Carvalho
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