Bioacoustics of Aromobates ericksonae

Distribution and natural history. We found four populations of Aromobates ericksonae ( Fig. 3 ). The topotypic population is located on a deep creek outside the small village of Los Ranchos, with males calling from the leaf litter, and females in close proximity. However, the frogs were never seen directly in the creek, which suggest that this species is riparian. All individuals were active during the day. Several small tadpoles were seen but not captured in small pools in the creek. One juvenile of Scinax manriquei Barrio-Amoros, Chacon & Orellana, 2004 , was also seen in the same location. Another close population of Aromobates ericksonae was discovered in a different habitat in the locality of Santa Cruz de Mora via Los Ranchos. This collection site is an open stream within a deciduous forest, where other species of dendrobatid are present ( Mannophryne collaris , Barrio-Amorós et al. 2010b ). The three individuals of A. ericksonae collected there were found on the forest floor or close to tree roots along the banks of a stream. Remarkably, these A. ericksonae were not as agile as Mannophryne and much easier to collect. Along the stream, several large individuals of fishing spiders ( Sparassidae ) were seen syntopically with both A. ericksonae and M. collaris . CBA has seen events of predation by these spiders on Mannophryne and they might also prey on Aromobates . A third population of Aromobates ericksonae is present at the lower mountain forest along the road from La Azulita to Santa Elena de Arenales, where males can be heard from forests along the road from La Palmita to Olinda in rainy days. The fourth population of A. ericksonae is located around Río Frío and its based on a single specimen. At this locality, the individual was found in a secondary forest close to a mountain stream flowing to Río Frío and sympatric with Mannophryne urticans ( Barrio-Amorós et al. 2010b ). Vocalization. A single call was analyzed from a recording collected at 22.3 ºC (substrate temperature) and dusk on June 1st, 2007 at the type locality. It is a constant trill lasting for several minutes ( Fig. 8 A shows the waveform and 8A' the spectrogram). Seven consecutive notes were chosen at random from the spectrogram to determine spectral and temporal variables. The dominant frequency range is 3730.0 – 4314.0 Hz. Pulse rate was about one pulse per second. Note and inter-note duration with their mean, SD and range in seconds are indicated as follows (1) note duration, 0.20 ± 0.005 (0.20–0.21) and (2) inter-note, 1.08 ± 0.045 (1.05–1.16). Both, the waveform and the spectrogram are shown in Fig. 8 B and B'. Phylogenetic relationships. The sister clade of Aromobates ericksonae is the saltuensis group composed by A. cannatellai and A. saltuensis . The distribution of A. ericksonae suggests that the last common ancestor radiated during rise of the modern Cordillera de Mérida during the Pliocene.