Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Correspondence
Published: 2025-07-07
Page range: 589-592
Abstract views: 52
PDF downloaded: 3

An off-key anuran singer: an unusual male release call in invasive cane toads in Hawaiʻi

Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology
Laboratório de História Natural de Anfíbios Brasileiros (LaHNAB); Departamento de Biologia Animal; Instituto de Biologia; Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Campinas; São Paulo; Brazil; 13083-970
Department of Natural Science; College of Natural and Computational Sciences; Hawaii Pacific University; 1 Aloha Tower Drive; Honolulu; Hawaiʻi; 96813 USA; Ocean Research Explorations; PO Box 235926; Honolulu; Hawaiʻi; 96823 USA
Laboratório de História Natural de Anfíbios Brasileiros (LaHNAB); Departamento de Biologia Animal; Instituto de Biologia; Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Campinas; São Paulo; Brazil; 13083-970
Amphibia Hawaii

References

  1. Bacon, J.P., Fort, C.E., Todhunter, B., Mathis, M. & Fort, D.J. (2013) Effects of multiple chemical, physical, and biological stressors on the incidence and types of abnormalities observed in Bermuda’s Cane Toads (Rhinella marina). Journal of Experimental Zoology, Part B, 320 (4), 218–237. https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.b.22496
  2. Batista, V.G., Oda, F.H., Amaral, D.F., Costa, N.Q., Maciel, N. & Bastos, R.P. (2017) Release and distress calls of Rhinella abei (Baldissera, Caramaschi and Haddad, 2004), and Rhinella icterica (Spix, 1824). Herpetozoa, 30 (1–2), 100–105.
  3. Castañaga, L.A., Asorey, C.M., Sandoval, M.T., Pérez‐Coll, C.S., Argibay, T.I. & Herkovits, J. (2009) Stage‐dependent teratogenic and lethal effects exerted by ultraviolet B radiation on Rhinella (Bufo) arenarum embryos. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: An International Journal, 28 (2), 427–433. https://doi.org/10.1897/08-144.1
  4. Cobo-Cuan, A., Toledo, L.F. & Narins, P.M. (2020) Call production and auditory sensitivity are uncompromised by nontympanic malformations in Cururu Toads. Herpetologica, 76 (3), 278–284. https://doi.org/10.1655/Herpetologica-D-19-00069.1
  5. Davies, N.B. & Halliday, T.R. (1979) Competitive mate searching in male common toads, Bufo bufo. Animal Behaviour, 27, 1253–1267. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-3472(79)90070-8
  6. de Sousa, B.A., Fonseca, M.G. & Benício, R.A. (2023) Malformations in Amphibians (Anura: Bufonidae) From Northeastern Brazil. Revista Latinoamericana de Herpetología, 6 (4), e785. https://doi.org/10.22201/fc.25942158e.2023.4.785
  7. Di Tada, I., Martino, A. & Sinsch, U. (2002) Release vocalizations in neotropical toads (Bufo): ecological constraints and phylogenetic implications. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 39, 13–23. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1439-0469.2001.00147.x
  8. Di Tada, I.E. & Sinch, U. (2022) Geographical variation of advertisement and release calls in toad referred to as Rhiniella dypticha (Anura: Bufonidae). Salamandra, 59 (1), 96–101.
  9. Dittrich, C. & Rödel, M-O. (2023) Drop dead! Female mate avoidance in an explosively breeding frog. Royal Society Open Science, 10, 230742. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230742
  10. Gobel, N., Laufer, G., Kacevas, N., Carabio, M., Merni, R., Rosano, A., Mendieta, F., Pineda, G. & Bergos, F. (2022) Morphological abnormalities in amphibians. Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 17 (3), 573–581.
  11. Guerra, C. & Aráoz, E. (2016) Amphibian malformations and body condition across an agricultural landscape of northwest Argentina. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 121 (2), 105–116. https://doi.org/10.3354/dao03048
  12. Grenat, P.R. & Martino, A.L. (2013) The release call as a diagnostic character between cryptic related species Odontophrynus cordobae and O. americanus (Anura: Cycloramphidae). Zootaxa, 3635 (5), 583–586. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3635.5.8
  13. Hepp, F. (2020) Review of bioacoustical traits in the genus Physalaemus Fitzinger, 1826 (Anura: Leptodactylidae: Leiuperinae). Zootaxa, 4725 (1), 1–106. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4725.1.1
  14. Johnson, P.T., Calhoun, D.M., Achatz, T.J., Greiman, S.E., Gestos, A. & Keeley, W.H. (2024) Outbreak of parasite-induced limb malformations in a declining amphibian species in Colorado. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, 24, 100965. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2024.100965
  15. Köhler, J., Jansen, M., Rodriguez, A., Kok, P.J., Toledo, L.F., Emmrich, M., Frank, G., Haddad, C.F.B., Mark, O.R. & Vences, M. (2017) The use of bioacoustics in anuran taxonomy: theory, terminology, methods and recommendations for best practice. Zootaxa, 4251 (1), 1–124. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4251.1.1
  16. Lannoo, M. (2008) Malformed frogs: the collapse of aquatic ecosystems. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, 270 pp. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520942530
  17. Marushchak, O.Y. & Muravynets, O.A. (2018) Morphological abnormalities in tailless amphibians (Amphibia, Anura) in Ukraine. Geo & Bio, 16, 7682. https://doi.org/10.15407/gb.2018.16.076
  18. Molina-Betancourt, K.J., Serna-Botero, V. & Marín-Martínez, M. (2022) New records of limb malformations in the endemic Palm Rocket Frog, Rheobates palmatus (Anura: Aromobatidae), from Colombia. Herpetology Notes, 15, 229232.
  19. Sueur, J., Aubin, T. & Simonis, C. (2008) Seewave, a free modular tool for sound analysis and synthesis. Bioacoustics, 18 (2), 213–226. https://doi.org/10.1080/09524622.2008.9753600
  20. Toledo, L.F., Martins, I.A., Bruschi, D.P., Passos, M.A., Alexandre, C. & Haddad, C.F. (2015) The anuran calling repertoire in the light of social context. Acta Ethologica, 18, 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-014-0194-4
  21. Ulloa, J.S., Aubin, T., Llusia, D., Courtois, É.A., Fouquet, A., Gaucher, P., Pavoine, S. & Sueur, J. (2019) Explosive breeding in tropical anurans: environmental triggers, community composition and acoustic structure. BMC Ecology, 19, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12898-019-0243-y
  22. Velo-Antón, G., Alvarez, D. & Alarcón-Ríos, L. (2021) Monsters in the city: multiple deformities increase in terrestrial-breeding urban salamanders. Amphibia-Reptilia, 42 (3), 391–398. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685381-bja10057

How to Cite

Baguio, F.A.G., Machado, T.M., Holland, B.S. & Toledo, L.F. (2025) An off-key anuran singer: an unusual male release call in invasive cane toads in Hawaiʻi. Zootaxa, 5659 (4), 589–592. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5659.4.8