A1 Journal article (refereed)
Much more than a clasp : evolutionary patterns of amplexus diversity in anurans (2020)

Carvajal-Castro, J. D., Lopez-Aguirre, Y., Maria Ospina-L, A., Santos, J. C., Rojas, B., & Vargas-Salinas, F. (2020). Much more than a clasp : evolutionary patterns of amplexus diversity in anurans. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 129(3), 652-663. https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa009

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Carvajal-Castro, Juan D.; Lopez-Aguirre, Yelenny; Maria Ospina-L, Ana; Santos, Juan C.; Rojas, Bibiana; Vargas-Salinas, Fernando

Journal or series: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

ISSN: 0024-4066

eISSN: 1095-8312

Publication year: 2020

Volume: 129

Issue number: 3

Pages range: 652–663

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa009

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access: 

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/68388

Web address of parallel published publication (pre-print): https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/854117v1

Abstract

The evolution and diversification of animal reproductive modes have been pivotal questions in behavioural ecology. Amphibians present the highest diversity of reproductive modes among vertebrates, involving various behavioural, physiological and morphological traits. One such feature is the amplexus, which is the clasp or embrace of males on females during reproduction and is found almost universally in anurans. Hypotheses about the origin of amplexus are limited and have not been tested thoroughly, nor have they taken into account evolutionary relationships in most comparative studies. However, these considerations are crucial to an understanding of the evolution of reproductive modes. Here, using an evolutionary framework, we reconstruct the ancestral state of amplexus in 685 anuran species. We investigate whether the type of amplexus has a strong phylogenetic signal and test whether sexual size dimorphism could have influenced amplexus type or male performance while clasping females. Overall, we found evidence of ≥34 evolutionary transitions in amplexus type across anurans. We found that amplexus type exhibits a high phylogenetic signal and that amplexus type does not evolve in association with sexual size dimorphism. We discuss the implications of our findings for the diversity of amplexus types across anurans.

Keywords: amphibians; frogs; reproduction (biology); reproductive behaviour; evolution; evolutionary biology

Free keywords: Amphibia; ancestral reconstruction; reproductive modes; sexual dimorphism

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2020

JUFO rating: 1