scholarly journals Amphibian life history in a temperate environment of the Mexican Plateau: dimorphism, phenology and trophic ecology of a hylid frog, Hyla eximia (=Dryophytes eximius)

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uriel Hernández-Salinas ◽  
Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista ◽  
Barry P. Stephenson ◽  
Raciel Cruz-Elizalde ◽  
Christian Berriozabal-Islas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Rainy Season ◽  
Logistic Model ◽  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Peak Period ◽  
Von Bertalanffy Model ◽  
Egg Deposition ◽  
Temperate Environment ◽  
Reproductive Cycles

The study of demographic and life history aspects of an organism provides valuable information for its conservation. Here, we analyze the phenology of the Mountain Treefrog Hyla eximia (= Dryophytes eximius) in a temperate environment of the Mexican Plateau. Females were larger in snout-vent length and body mass than males. The peak period of activity occurred in the rainy season (May–September), with amplexus and egg deposition occurring between June and July, and larval development from July to August. A logistic model best explained observed male growth patterns, while the Von Bertalanffy model better described female growth. Notably, males grew faster than females, although females reached a larger overall body size. The diet of this species is made up of 10 prey categories. The index of diet importance indicated that males feed mainly on Coleoptera and Diptera, while females feed on Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, and Aranea. Both females and males showed a significant abundance of plant material in their stomachs, suggesting that H. eximia might exhibit highly specialized feeding behavior. Reproduction was seasonal, and both female and male reproductive cycles are synchronized with the rainy season. These natural history characteristics provide information to better understand their responses to environmental conditions.

The advertisement call of the treefrog Nyctimantis rugiceps Boulenger, 1882 (Anura: Hylidae), with notes on its natural history and toxicity

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4532 (3) ◽  
pp. 441 ◽  
Author(s):  
CAMILA CAMARGO DE SOUZA ◽  
MAURICIO RIVERA-CORREA ◽  
JOSE M. PADIAL ◽  
SANTIAGO CASTROVIEJO-FISHER
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Quantitative Description ◽  
Calling Behavior ◽  
Advertisement Call ◽  
Advertisement Calls ◽  
Call Duration ◽  
Egg Deposition ◽  
History Of ◽  
Santa Cecilia

Nyctimantis rugiceps Boulenger, 1882 (Fig. 1A) is a Neotropical treefrog (Duellman & Trueb 1976; Faivovich et al. 2005) known only from disjunct localities in Amazonian Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (Pérez-Villota et al. 2009). This species has the skin of the skull co-ossified and reproduces—including calling behavior, egg deposition and tadpole development—in water-filled tree or bamboo cavities (Duellman & Trueb 1976; Duellman 1978). Given its secretive behavior, this is a poorly known species and, as noted by Duellman (1978: 169), “the major clue to the life history of Nyctimantis is the calling behavior of the males”. Unfortunately, the only quantitative description of the advertisement call of N. rugiceps is a brief passage in Duellman (1978) based on four specimens from Santa Cecilia, Ecuador, where important variables are missing (e.g., call duration). More importantly, graphs illustrating the waveform and spectrogram are missing. Considering these limitations and the importance of advertisement calls to the study of anurans (Köhler et al. 2017), we provide a quantitative description using a call recording obtained in Leticia, Amazonas, Colombia. 

Reproductive biology of the false coral snake Oxyrhopus guibei (Colubridae) from southeastern Brazil

2002 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 495-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otavio Marques ◽  
Lígia Pizzatto
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Rainy Season ◽  
Reproductive Activity ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Coral Snake ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Reproductive Cycles ◽  
Number Of Individuals

AbstractThe reproductive biology of the false coral snake, Oxyrhopus guibei, was studied through dissection of 496 specimens, combined with observations on captive individuals. Males mature with smaller body size than females, females attain much larger body size, and male-male combat is not expected. Clutch size ranged from 3 to 20, and was correlated with female length. Reproductive cycles in both males and females seem to be continuous, with vitellogenesis and spermatogenesis occurring throughout the year. Reproductive activity in both sexes decreased at the end of the rainy season possibly due to previous intense reproductive activity in more favorable climatic conditions. The smaller number of individuals collected at the end of the rainy season apparently occurs due to the decrease of reproductive activity of this snake.

Growth ecology of the tree lizard Urosaurus bicarinatus (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae), in a tropical dry forest of the Chamela Region, Mexico

2016 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista ◽  
Uriel Hernández-Salinas ◽  
J. Gastón Zamora-Abrego
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Life History ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Average Rate ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Von Bertalanffy ◽  
Mexican Pacific ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Tree Lizard

Determination of growth rate provides an important component of an organism’s life history, making estimations of size at maturity, survival rate, and longevity possible. Here, we report on growth rate of males and females of the tropical tree lizard Urosaurus bicarinatus, in a seasonal environment in the state of Jalisco on the Mexican Pacific Coast. We calculated body growth rates and fitted these to the Von Bertalanffy, the logistic-by-length, and the logistic-by-weight growth models. The Von Bertalanffy model provided the best fit, and we used it to analyze the growth pattern. Males and females did not differ in estimated asymptotic size and other characteristic growth parameters. Estimated growth curve predicted an age at maturity of 38 mm SVL on 120 days for males, and 40 mm SVL on 170 days for females. On the basis of the similarities in the growth rates between the sexes, comparisons were made between seasons, and we found that the average rate of growth was slightly, albeit insignificantly, higher in the rainy season than in the dry season. The similarities in the growth patterns for the sexes of this species might be indicative of variance in its life history traits (e.g., fecundity, egg size) compared to those of other populations of this species and other species of this genus; therefore, it is important to document interpopulation differences to understand the evolutionary changes that have led to optimal adaptation in a particular environment more accurately.

scholarly journals Growth variability, dimensional scaling, and the interpretation of osteohistological growth data

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Cullen ◽  
Caleb M. Brown ◽  
Kentaro Chiba ◽  
Kirstin S. Brink ◽  
Peter J. Makovicky ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Growth Data ◽  
Common Component ◽  
Growth Variability ◽  
Scaling Relationships ◽  
Dimensional Scaling ◽  
Taxonomic Description ◽  
History Of

Osteohistological data are commonly used to study the life history of extant and extinct tetrapods. While recent advances have permitted detailed reconstructions of growth patterns, physiology and other features using these data, they are most commonly used in assessments of ontogenetic stage and relative growth in extinct animals. These methods have seen widespread adoption in recent years, rapidly becoming a common component of the taxonomic description of new fossil taxa, but are often applied without close consideration of the sources of variation present or the dimensional scaling relationships that exist among different osteohistological measurements. Here, we use a combination of theoretical models and empirical data from a range of extant and extinct tetrapods to review sources of variability in common osteohistological measurements, their dimensional scaling relationships and the resulting interpretations that can be made from those data. In particular, we provide recommendations on the usage and interpretation of growth mark spacing/zonal thickness data, when these are likely to be unreliable, and under what conditions they can provide useful inferences for studies of growth and life history.

scholarly journals Age-based and reproductive biology of the Pacific Longnose Parrotfish Hipposcarus longiceps from Guam

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e4079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett M. Taylor ◽  
Eric Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Fishery Management ◽  
Stock Assessment ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Life History Trait ◽  
Fishery Resource ◽  
Species Vulnerability ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Improved Model

The Pacific longnose parrotfish Hipposcarus longiceps (Valenciennes 1840) represents a prime fishery resource throughout much of the tropical Pacific. In this study, we sampled the species from the Guam commercial fishery market across five consecutive years to characterize reproductive and age-based demographic information imperative for informed fishery management. Compared with other parrotfishes, this species was found to be large-bodied, but has only a moderate life span of 10 + years. Hipposcarus longiceps was confirmed as a diandric protogynous hermaphrodite with highly sex-specific growth patterns and an overall mean asymptotic length of 434 mm fork length (FL). Females were estimated to reach median maturity at 329 mm FL (2.4 years) and have a median length at female-to-male sex change of 401 mm FL. Life-history trait values derived here were used to update previous models relating life history and vulnerability to overexploitation. We found that enhancement of just one species’ trait values improved model fits considerably, which strengthens the conclusion that life-history traits are a strong determinant of species’ vulnerability in the parrotfishes. This information is an imperative complement to other data sources facilitating formal stock assessment of a key fishery target.

scholarly journals A new forecast model for fluctuating Pattern of Covid-19 spread in South Asia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Arif Hussain ◽  
Kashif Bin Zaheer ◽  
Syed Muhammad Haroon ◽  
Amber Nehan Kashif
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Model ◽  
Forecast Model ◽  
Nuclear Fission ◽  
Stochastic Methods ◽  
Peak Period ◽  
Infected People ◽  
Viral Spread ◽  
Expansion Of The Universe ◽  
Modeling Of Dynamics ◽  
The Universe

Abstract Exponential growths are observed in several natural phenomena, including cosmological expansion of the universe, nuclear fission, population growth, global viral spread, and financial markets fluctuations. Several deterministic and stochastic methods have been used for the modeling of dynamics of these phenomena. Global reliable data are essential to parameterise a defined model so as to enhance confidence in model outputs. Four-parameter logistic model comes out to be best forecast model for the total Covid-19 infected people in Pakistan and India. Five-parameter logistic model is best forecast model for Bangladesh. Simulation results revel that maximum total number of cases will be about 1.0, 0.6 and 0.25 million in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh respectively. Covid-19 infected rate will be closed to 11000, 8000 and 2000 cases per day during peak period in these countries.

Reproductive life history of snakes in temperate regions: what are the differences between oviparous and viviparous species?

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-303
Author(s):  
Gisela Paola Bellini ◽  
Vanesa Arzamendia ◽  
Alejandro Raúl Giraudo
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Reproductive Potential ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Reproductive Mode ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Genetic Characteristics ◽  
Reproductive Life ◽  
History Of ◽  
Reproductive Cycles

Abstract Studying life history (LH) allows a broader understanding of organisms and populations’ responses to their environments. Snakes display an immense diversity in terms of reproductive traits, which is reflected in LH traits. The aim of this study is to compare reproductive biology and morphological variables in viviparous and oviparous snakes of a temperate South American community. We studied nearly 1000 specimens of eight oviparous and seven viviparous species pertaining to the four taxonomic families that inhabit the Paraná basin floodplain. Dimorphic variables did not show a different tendency between oviparous and viviparous species. Our results showed that the reproductive mode determined some reproductive traits of a snake’s LH, such as reproductive frequency and reproductive potential. Oviparous snakes reproduce annually, while viviparous snakes reproduce biannually or multi-annually. All species showed seasonal reproductive cycles and no correlation between clutch size (fecundity) and maternal body size. The reproductive strategy of both oviparous and viviparous species of the Paraná River floodplain was to adjust their reproductive cycles to both hydrological cycle of the river and temperature regime. The reproductive traits under study are suggested to have been influenced by environmental factors as well as by genetic characteristics. The studied assemblage is the result of an admixture of evolutionarily distinct clades, each contributing a set of species with different reproductive traits. Although we do not ignore this fact, we emphasize the importance of studying reproductive LH as raw material for an integrative analysis.

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