Diet of the toad Rhinella icterica (Anura: Bufonidae) from Atlantic Forest Highlands of southeastern Brazil

Biota Neotropica

Leandro Talione Sabagh²  Ana Maria Paulino Telles Carvalho-e-silva¹  Carlos Frederico Duarte Rocha² 

[1] ,Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - UERJ Departamento de Ecologia Laboratório de Ecologia de VertebradosRio de Janeiro RJ ,Brasil

关键词: Amphibia;    feeding habits;    highlands;    trophic niche;    Yellow Cururu Toad;    Amphibia;    hábitos alimentares;    campos de altitude;    nicho trófico;    sapo Cururu;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S1676-06032012000400027

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

In this study, we present some information of the regarding throphic niche from the anuran toad Rhinella icterica living in high altitudes above 2000 m a.s.l. from a habitat of the Atlantic Forest Biome - the Altitude Fields in the Itatiaia National Park. We found 150 prey items in toad stomachs, belonging to five prey types, as well as skin remains and some remains of plant material. The index of relative importance indicated that most important prey types were beetles and ants, these last composing 70% of the diet numerically and the trophic niche breadth (B) was 1.81. The relatively low diversity of prey types we recorded in the diet of R. icterica of Itatiaia and numerically dominated by ants suggests some preference for this item. We do not found significant relationship between the toad measurements with the preys' measurements. We concluded that R. icterica toads at the highlands of Itatiaia feeds on arthropods, mainly ants and coleopterans and that the high consumption of preys with relatively small and similar size as ants in the diet prevents an expected relationship among frog body or mouth size and prey volume and size.

【 授权许可】

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