Herpetology Notes, volume 11: 625-627 (2018) (published online on 15 August 2018)

Description of thanatosis in Pseudopaludicola mystacalis (Cope, 1887) (Anura: )

Martha Motte1, Nicolás Martínez1,*, and Pier Cacciali2,3

In nature, any kind of strategy is allowed to avoid by partial immersion in Chlorobutanol (95%) (Cacciali, predation, and death-feigning is a common defensive 2013), fixed with formalin (10%), preserved with behaviour adopted by many in order to dissuade 70% ethanol (Simons, 2002), and stored in the Museo the attack of a potential hunter (Edmunds, 1974). Nacional de Historia Natural del Paraguay in San Anurans are well known to use this self-protective tactic Lorenzo city, Paraguay. (Toledo et al., 2011). Toledo et al. (2010), based on an The observations took place in the field when one of exhaustive revision of death-feigning displays recorded the authors (MM) was searching for P. mystacalis in for this taxonomic group, proposed two different kinds a chorus of several males calling. The first specimen of motionless displays: 1- thanatosis (name commonly (MNHNP 12305; SVL: 12.75 mm) was found feigning applied) where the is relaxed; and 2- shrinking death on the grass, motionless, ventral surface upwards or contracting (proposed new name) where the animal after being seen by the collector. A few minutes later, contracts the limbs by bending them close to the body, the collector spotted a second specimen (MNHNP usually against the belly. This last defensive behaviour 12306; SVL: 13.35 mm). This was feigning death laying occurs mostly in toxic , whereas thanatosis is down on the grass, motionless, ventral surface upwards. more often displayed by non-toxic species (Toledo et Immediately after they had been placed in the bag, the al., 2010). Based on a field observation, Toledo et al. specimens jumped to the bottom. (2010) recorded one case of thanatosis by the non-toxic Once in the basecamp, another author (NM) grabbed Pseudopaludicola mystacalis. Here we report two one of the specimens (MNHNP 12305), and placed cases of thanatosis exhibited by this species, providing it on a tray to photograph it. When the specimen was the first description of that behavior for P. mystacalis. placed on the tray, it was feigning death again (Fig. Pseudopaludicola mystacalis is a small-sized diurnal 2). When the observer placed his hand near the frog, it frog distributed in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and quickly turned to a normal position and tried to escape southern Paraguay (Brusquetti & Lavilla, 2006; Lavilla by jumping a few times until it laid upside down again et al., 2016). In this work, we based our observations for about 45 seconds. on two specimens from Tava’i, Misiones Department Posteriorly, NM tried to recover them to be euthanized. (27º17’48”S, 57º22’05”W; Datum WGS-84; 66 masl) Both specimens laid at the bottom of the bag, ventral (Fig. 1) in Paraguay. The specimens were collected on 9 surface upwards, for one minute. After that span, the February 2017 between 15:00 and 16:00 h, euthanized specimens returned to its normal position. Previous report of thanatosis in Pseudopaludicola involved one individual of P. mystacalis and one of P. saltica (Toledo et al., 2010). During this defensive strategy, the frog left its fore and hind limbs loose 1 Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del Paraguay. 2169 CDP, while the observer moved it to any position (Toledo Sucursal 1, Ciudad Universitaria, San Lorenzo, Paraguay. et al., 2010). This is the first observation of thanatosis 2 Instituto de Investigación Biológica del Paraguay, Del Escudo for Paraguayan specimens of P. mystacalis. Although 1607, 1425 Asunción, Paraguay. the functional significance of this defensive strategy is 3 Investigador Asociado, Asociación Guyra Paraguay, Av. Cnel. Carlos Bóveda, Parque Asunción Verde, Viñas Cué, still poorly understood (Wells, 2007), the knowledge Paraguay. of the ethology of a species is not only important to * Corresponding author. E-mail: understand its natural history (and the relationships [email protected] and dynamics within its environment) but also to help 626 Martha Motte et al.

Figure 1. Map showing the location where the specimens of Pseudopaludicola mystacalis were found (green rhomb). Inset in the left upper corner shows the map of Paraguay with neighbouring countries.

Figure 2. Sequence of images of the specimen MNHNP 12305 feigning death. A) The specimen was feigning death ventral surface upwards in the transporting bag. B & C) Moments after being pulling out off the bag. The specimen was on the photograph tray. D) The specimen feigning death during the photograph shooting process. Description of thanatosis in Pseudopaludicola mystacalis 627 assess phylogenetic changes among related members of Shahrudin, S. (2016b): Antipredator behaviour of Leptobrachium a clade (Noble, 1931). Until now, of the 21 species of hendricksoni Taylor, 1962 (Anura: Megophryidae) from Pseudopaludicola currently recognized (Frost, 2017), Peninsular Malaysia. Alytes, 33: 12–15. Simmons, J.E. (2002): Herpetological Collecting and Collections thanatosis was recorded only for P. mystacalis and P. Management. Society for the Study of and Reptiles. saltica (Toledo et al., 2010). Nevertheless, we expect Herpetological Circulars 31:1–153. that further ethological data can raise this number since Toledo, L.F., Sazima, I., Haddad, C.F.B. (2010): Is it all death death-feigning is one of the most common defensive feigning? Case in anurans. Journal of Natural History 44: strategies in around the world (Guerra Batista 1979–1988. et al., 2015; Shahrudin, 2016a, b; Alves Teles et al., Toledo, L.F., Sazima, I., Haddad, C.F.B. (2011): Behavioural 2017). defences of anurans: an overview. Ethology Ecology & Evolution 23: 1–25. Wells, K.D. (2007): The Ecology & Behavior of Amphibians. Acknowledgements. The observations provided here were Chicago, U.S.A., The University of Chicago Press. made in the framework of the project 14-INV-008 “Correlación entre la salud de los humedales y la presencia de Biomphalaria tenagophila, vector transmisor de Schistosoma mansonii, causante de la schistosomiasis, enfermedad endémica del Paraguay y la región” with the support of Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) and WWF-Paraguay. Collecting permit N° 133/15 was issued by Secretaria del Ambiente (SEAM). We want to thank Fátima Mereles and Sergio Ríos who helped during fieldwork, Víctor Zaracho for confirmation on the identification of the species, and Nathan Haase who kindly reviewed and improved the English grammar. PC and MM thank CONACYT for the constant support through the PRONII program.

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