Advertisement Calls of Species of the Hyla Albosignata Group (Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae)

Abstract

We describe and compare the spectral and temporal characteristics of the advertisement calls of six species of the Hyla albosignata group (H. albosignata, H. callipygia, H. cavicola, H. ibirapitanga, H. leucopygia, and H. sibilata), and relate the ecological and morphological relationships among these species based on the phenetic analysis resulted from the acoustic parameters. Advertisement calls of species of the H. albosignata species group are quite similar, each consisting of one repeated note containing harmonic structure. Duration of calls range from about 0.1s (H. sibilata) to 0.5s (H. cavicola) and are repeated at different rates, from three calls per second (H. sibilata) to one call for each three seconds (H. callipygia). The main difference among the advertisement calls is related to their spectral properties. The arrangement of the phenetic tree does not corroborate the division proposed in the literature based on morphological differences of the cloacal region, nor is related to species body size. Sympatric species with similar calls are not syntopic, and syntopic species show more differentiated calls.