Herpetology Notes, volume 2: 91-93 (2009) (published online on 24 June 2009)
Notes on the call and behavior of Arcovomer passarellii
(Anura: Microhylidae)
Ariovaldo Giaretta1 and Lucas Martins*1
Abstract. Arcovomer passarellii is known from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Based on a sample from Ubatuba, São Paulo state,
we presented data on its habitat, call, morphometry, eggs and defensive behavior, comparing our data with those previously
published.
Keywords. Vocalization, stiff-legged posture, defensive behavior, Atlantic forest.
Arcovomer passarellii Carvalho, 1954 is known from
Brazilian coastal Atlantic Forest localities in the states
of Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Espírito Santo (ES), and São
Paulo (SP) (Pombal Jr. and Bastos, 1992; Izecksohn and
Carvalho-e-Silva, 2001). Nelson (1973) described calls
from a site close to the type-locality (Duque de Caxias,
RJ). This species has been regarded as a forest dweller,
1 Laboratório de Taxonomia, Ecologia e Sistemática de Anuros
Neotropicais, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia (MG), Brasil;
* corresponding author: lucasborgesmartins@hotmail.com
and males have been reported calling from crab burrows
(Izecksohn and Carvalho-e-Silva, 2001).
Herein we present new data on habitat, call,
morphometry, eggs, and defensive behavior of A.
passarellii based on a sample from Ubatuba, northeastern
SP, collected (December 2008) in a lowland (< 5 m
alt.) site characterized by a significant amount of wellpreserved primary Atlantic Forest.
Calls were recorded with an M-audio Microtrack II
digital recorder (set at 44100 Hz and 16 bit resolution)
coupled to a Sennheiser ME66/K6 microphone.
Sounds were analyzed using a FFT (Fast Fourier
Transformations) length of 512 points width using the
Figure 1. Spectrogram and oscillogram of an advertisement call of Arcovomer passarellii. Ubatuba, SP, Brazil. 26/Dec./2008,
20:30 h, air = 23.4 oC; water = 23.0 oC. AAG record file Arcov_passarSP4AAGmt.
92
Ariovaldo Giaretta & Lucas Martins
Table 1. Morphometry of adults Arcovomer passarellii from
Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. December/2008. Measurements
in mm.
Feature
Males (n = 2)
Snout-vent length
19.75 ± 0.35 (19.5 – 20.0)
Female (n = 1)
Head length
5.65 ± 0.07 ( 5.6 – 5.7)
6.9
Head width
6.25 ± 0.35 ( 6.0 – 6.5)
7.8
25.6
Hand length
5.15 ± 0.35 ( 4.9 – 5.4)
6.4
Foot length
10.85 ± 0.07 (10.8 – 10.9)
13.0
Shank length
9.25 ± 0.07 ( 9.2 – 9.3)
11.1
Thigh length
9.40 ± 0.14 ( 9.3 – 9.5)
10.1
Max. eye diameter
1.85 ± 0.07 ( 1.8 – 1.9)
2.1
Eye-nostril length
2.25 ± 0.07 ( 2.2 – 2.3)
2.4
SoundRuler software [v. 0.9.6.0 (Gridi-Papp, 2007)];
figures were prepared using the Seewave R package
(Sueur et al. 2008). Voucher specimens [AAG-UFU
4415-16 (males), and 4417 (female)] and calls are
housed at the frog collection of the Universidade Federal
de Uberlândia.
Males (n > 15) called after sunset in secondary growth
forest adjacent (< 50 m) to primary forest or forest
border (< 10 m), hidden at ground level within dense
grass-like plant tuffs close (< 2 m) to rain-filled ponds
(< 0.5 m deep) with clear slow-flowing water. Their
calls (n= 15 calls; 4 males) (Fig. 1) consisted of a sharp
(3067±122.5; 2798–3158 Hz) and short (269.8±45;
211–321 ms) non-pulsed whistle, released at a rate of
3.2 calls per second (±1.0; 2.2–4.4) and with inter-call
intervals of 26.2 s (±16.4, 1.0–53.5).
One gravid female (26 mm SVL) and two calling
males (19.5–20 mm) were captured by removing bricks
from a pile (construction rubbish) discarded within the
forest. The gravid female bore 203 ovarian eggs, each
one measuring about 1.7±0.8 (1.6–1.8) mm. Other
measured features in table 1.
When manipulated to be photographed, the female
fled twice by jumping and immediately stopped with
her four limbs stretched, the forelegs to sides and the
hindlegs backwards (stiff-legged posture, cf. Sazima,
1978), remaining in this stretched position (Fig. 2) for
about one minute, then rapidly recovered to jump away
when touched.
Singular, short, pure notes are typical of some other
microhylid taxa (Nelson, 1973; Hartmann et al., 2002).
Our records were about 6% lower in dominant frequency
and 10% shorter than that reported by Nelson (1973),
slight differences were attributed to individual variation
or measurement errors.
Available data on adult morphometry ���
of A. passarellii
were restricted to SVL. Carvalho (1954) reported the
holotype as being a 16 mm (SVL) male. Similarly to
our sample, a male from Seropédica (RJ) had 20 mm in
SVL (Izecksohn and Carvalho-e-Silva, 2001). Pombal
Jr. and Bastos (1992) suggested that the northernmost
Figure 2. Arcovomer passarellii adult female in stiff-legged posture. Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. December/2008.
93
Call and behavior of Arcovomer passarellii
known population (ES) represents a different, smaller
species, but data on morphometry were not presented.
Stiff-legged posture (cf. Sazima, 1978; Schlüter and
Salas, 1991; Bertoluci et al., 2007) has been reported
for different anuran taxa (Sazima, 1978; Bertoluci et
al., 2007). Besides A. passarellii, this behavior had
already been described for other Microhylidae, such
as Stereocyclops parkeri (Wettstein, 1934) (Sazima,
1978) and Ctenophryne geayi Mocquard, 1904
(Schlüter and Salas, 1991; Menin and Rodrigues,
2007). Such behavior, additionally to the cryptic body
coloration, may enhance the resemblance of these
frogs to dead leaves, protecting them from visually
orientated predators (Sazima, 1978; Schlüter and Salas,
1991; Bertoluci et al., 2007; Menin and Rodrigues,
2007). The stiff-legged defensive posture may have
evolved convergently among different frog lineages
(Sazima, 1978 and Bertoluci et al., 2007); it remains
questionable if among the Neotropical microhylids the
stiff-legged defensive posture represents a feature with
a phylogenetic context.
Acknowledgements. Financial support by FAPEMIG and a
grant by CNPq to AG. Paulo A. Hartmann, M. Menin, and J.
Bertoluci provided helpful papers. T. R. Carvalho critically read
the English version of the draft.
References
Bertoluci, J, Brassaloti, R.A., Sawakuchi, H.O., Ribeiro Jr, J.W.,
Woehl Jr, G.(2007): Defensive behavior with stiff-legged
posture in the Brazilian tree toads Dendrophryniscus brevipollicatus and D. leucomystax (Anura, Bufonidae). Alytes 25:
38-44.
Carvalho, A.L. (1954): A preliminary synopsis of the genera of
American microhylid frogs. Occas. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan 555: 1-19.
Gridi-Papp, M. (2007): Sound Ruler acoustic analysis. v. 0.9.6.0.
Available from http://soundruler.sourceforge.net (17 August
2007).
Hartmann, M.T., Hartmann, P.A., Haddad, C.F.B. (2002): Advertisement calls of Chiasmocleis carvalhoi, Chiasmocleis
mehelyi, and Myersiella microps (Microhylidae). J.
�������������
Herpetol.
36: 509-511.
Izecksohn, E., Carvalho-e-Silva, S.P. (2001): Anfíbios do município do Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro, editora UFRJ.
Menin, M., Rodrigues, D.J. (2007): Ctenophryne geayi. Behav������
ior. Herpetol. Rev. 38(2): 182.
Nelson, C. E. (1973): Mating calls of the Microhylinae: descriptions and phylogenetic and ecological considerations. Herpe������
tologica 29: 163-176.
Pombal Jr., J.P., Bastos, R.P. (1992): Arcovomer passarellii. ����
Herpetol. Rev. 23: 85.
Sazima, I. (1978): Convergent defensive behavior of two leaf-litter frogs of Southeastern Brazil. Biotropica 10: 158.
Schlüter, A., Salas, A.W. (1991): Reproduction, tadpoles, and
ecological aspects of three syntopic microhylid species from
Peru (Amphibia, Microhylidae). Stuttgarter Beitr. Naturk.
A(458): 1-17.
Sueur, J., Aubin, T., Simonis, C. (2008): Seewave, a free modular tool for sound analysis and synthesis. Bioacoustics 18:
213-226.
Accepted by Angelica Crottini
94