Leiuperinae Explained

The Leiuperinae are a subfamily of frogs in the family Leptodactylidae. Over 90 species are in five genera. The distribution of this subfamily is from southern Mexico to the Central America and much of South America.[1]

Taxonomy

Recognition of the Leiuperinae as it is known today is relatively recent. Frost et al. (2006) treated the Leiuperina as a part of the Leptodactylidae,[2] whereas Grant et al. (2006) recognized them as a family,[3] the view adopted by some sources.[4] [5] However, the Amphibian Species of the World follows Pyron and Wiens (2011)[6] in recognizing this taxon as a subfamily.[1] However, AmphibiaWeb includes leiuperinid genera in the Leptodactylidae, without recognizing them as a subfamily.[7]

Genera

The five genera are:[1]

Defensive Mechanisms

Leiuperinae display several anti-predator mechanisms, including eyespots, hidden bright colours, macroglands in a inguinal/lumbar position, defensive behaviours, and/or chemical defence.[8] A 2021 study showed the most recent ancestor of Edalorhina, Engystomops, Physalaemus, and Pleurodema evolved a particular type of serous gland (the main component of macroglands) in the lumbar skin along with the absence of the Eberth-Katschenko layer.[8] [9] Leiuperines with macroglands exhibit a defensive behaviour which includes four displays ('crouching down', rear elevation, body inflation, and eye protection) all of which are present in this same common ancestor.[8] Several species independently evolved the two elements associated with aposematism (hidden bright colours and eyespots).[8] [10] Overall, the study provided phylogenetic evidence for the startle-first hypothesis,[11] i.e. behavioural displays arise as sudden movements in camouflaged individuals to avoid predatory attacks, prior to the origin of bright coloration.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Leiuperinae Bonaparte, 1850 . Frost, Darrel R. . 2015 . Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0 . American Museum of Natural History . 23 May 2015.
  2. Frost . D. R. . Grant . T. . Faivovich . J. N. . Bain . R. H. . Haas . A. . Haddad . C. L. F. B. . De Sá . R. O. . Channing . A. . Wilkinson . M. . Donnellan . S. C. . Raxworthy . C. J. . Campbell . J. A. . Blotto . B. L. . Moler . P. . Drewes . R. C. . Nussbaum . R. A. . Lynch . J. D. . Green . D. M. . Wheeler . W. C. . The Amphibian Tree of Life . Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History . 297 . 1–291. 2006 . 10.1206/0003-0090(2006)297[0001:TATOL]2.0.CO;2 . 2246/5781. 86140137 . free .
  3. Grant, T. . Frost, D. R. . Caldwell, J. P. . Gagliardo, R. . Haddad, C. F. B. . Kok, P. J. R. . Means, D. B. . Noonan, B. P. . Schargel, W. E. . Wheeler, W. C. . amp . 2006 . Phylogenetic systematics of dart-poison frogs and their relatives (Amphibia: Athesphatanura: Dendrobatidae) . Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History . 299 . 1–262 . 10.1206/0003-0090(2006)299[1:PSODFA]2.0.CO;2 . 82263880 .
  4. Blackburn, D.C. . Wake, D.B. . Class Amphibia Gray, 1825. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness . Zootaxa. 3148. 2011. 39–55. 10.11646/zootaxa.3148.1.8 .
  5. Web site: Leipueridae . Animal Diversity . May 19, 2015.
  6. Pyron . A. R. . Wiens . J. J. . 10.1016/j.ympev.2011.06.012 . A large-scale phylogeny of Amphibia including over 2800 species, and a revised classification of extant frogs, salamanders, and caecilians . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 61 . 2 . 543–583 . 2011 . 21723399. free . 2011MolPE..61..543A .
  7. Web site: Leptodactylidae . 2015 . AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application] . Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb . 22 May 2015.
  8. Ferraro, Daiana Paola. Pereyra, Martín Oscar. Topa, Pascual Emilio. Faivovich, Julián. Evolution of macroglands and defensive mechanisms in Leiuperinae (Anura: Leptodactylidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 2021. 193. 2. 388–412 . 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa149 .
  9. Taylor REJ. Taylor HC. Barker SB. 1966. Chemical and morphological studies on inorganic phosphate deposits. Journal of Experimental Zoology. 161. 2 . 271–285. 10.1002/jez.1401610210 . 5960620 .
  10. Book: Endler JA.. Krebs JR. Davies NB. 1991. Interactions between predators and prey. Behavioural ecology and evolutionary approach. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. 169–196.
  11. Umbers KDL. De Bona S. White TE. Lehtonen J. Mappes J. Endler JA. Deimatism: A neglected component of antipredator defence. 2017. Biology Letters. 13. 4 . 20160936. 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0936 . 28404819 . 206150189 . 5414691.

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