How much fruit do fruit‐eating frogs eat? An investigation on the diet of Xenohyla truncata (Lissamphibia: Anura: Hylidae)

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a 22-month survey and the examination of the intestinal content of 356 specimens of Xenohyla truncata (Anura: Hylidae) from Restinga de Maric´a, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Our results confirm prior observations that fruits are intrinsic to the diet of these frogs. In addition, these new data increase our understanding of the relationship between frogs and the plants they feed upon. Plant consumption follows availability of fruits in the area, indicating that the diversity of fruits consumed by the frogs does not represent choice, but rather plant phenology and fruit availability.

Journal of coastal conservation: a review on the anurofauna of Brazil’s sandy coastal plains. How much do we know about it?

“…However, we found little effort has been expended in this direction when analysing the studies of restingas. With the exception of the study by Silva and Britto-Pereira (2006) about X. truncata, no other research has evaluated the availability of food items in nature compared to those found in the stomachs of the species. Important answers can arise by analysing this availability, for example, the foraging method of each species.…”

“…The first study analysing the stomach contents of frogs in restingas (Silva et al 1989) reports the consumption of vegetable material (fruit and other plant parts) by an omnivorous species of anuran, the hilideo Xenohyla truncata, in the restinga of Marica in Rio de Janeiro. Besides eating arthropods that make up the majority of its diet, Xenohyla truncata also eats the most abundant fruits in the restinga during each season (Silva and Britto-Pereira 2006). According to available data, P. luteolus is a generalist species, feeding on a variety of items (19 items).…”

Sexual dimorphism, reproduction and diet of the casque-headed treefrogItapotihyla langsdorffii(Hylidae: Lophiohylini)

“…76% for Hypsiboas albopunctatus (Vaz-Silva et al 2004a); 36-48% for Dendropsophus nanus (Menin et al 2005); 48-72% for D. sanborni (Menin et al 2005); 65% for Trachycephalus venulosus (Duré and Kehr 2006); 57% for Xenohyla truncata (Silva and Britto-Pereira 2006); > 50% for Hypsiboas faber, Dendropsophus nanus, Scinax granulatus and S. perereca (Solé and Pelz 2007). Hence, it seems that food availability for I. langsdorffii may not be limited at the study area.…”

Composición de la dieta de Craugastor lineatus (Anura: Craugastoridae) de Chiapas, México

“…representa los grados de libertad y P la probabilidad estadística a la que fue significativo el valor obtenido de G. Santos et al 2003, Mendoza-Estrada et al 2008. Asimismo, se ha documentado que Xenohyla truncata ingiere frutos intencionalmente (da Silva et al 1989, da Silva & de Britto-Pereira 2006. Mendoza-Estrada et al (2008) proponen que la materia vegetal ayudaría a la fermentación del alimento, como ocurre en reptiles herbívoros.…”

“…Pues existen casos como el de X. truncata, que puede vivir en cautividad con una dieta exclusivamente de frutos (da Silva et al 1989). Asimismo, da Silva & de Britto-Pereira (2006) sugieren que el consumo de plantas también pudiera estar funcionando como un mecanismo para secuestrar toxinas, como sucede en algunas especies de anuros que ingieren exclusivamente artrópodos (Daly et al 2000). El tamaño de la rana puede explicar la presencia de algunas categorías de alimento, en relación con la distribución del tamaño y abundancia del recurso (Toft 1981, Lima & Magnusson 2000.…”