Aposematism facilitates the diversification of parental care strategies in poison frogs.

ABSTRACT: Many organisms have evolved adaptations to increase the odds of survival of their offspring. Parental care has evolved several times in animals including ectotherms. In amphibians, ~ 10% of species exhibit parental care. Among these, poison frogs (Dendrobatidae) are well-known for their extensive care, which includes egg guarding, larval transport, and specialized tadpole provisioning with trophic eggs. At least one third of dendrobatids displaying aposematism by exhibiting warning coloration that informs potential predators about the presence of defensive skin toxins. Aposematism has a central role in poison frog diversification, including diet specialization, and visual and acoustic communication; and it is thought to have impacted their reproductive biology as well. We tested the latter

SUBMITTER: Carvajal-Castro JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8463664 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature