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Articles
Retracted: New record and dietary ecology of an endangered amphibian species, Micryletta nigromaculata Poyarkov, Nguyen, Duong, Gorin & Yang, 2018, from Vietnam
Anh Van Pham- Truong Quang Nguyen
- Hai Ngoc Ngo
Published 2023-12-27
Versions
- 2024-01-23 (2)
- 2023-12-27 (1)
Keywords
- Formicidae,
- prey items,
- Rhinotermitidae,
- Son La Province,
- stomach contents
How to Cite
Van Pham, A., Quang Nguyen, T., Ba Sung, N., Van Tran, T. ., Duc Le, M., & Ngoc Ngo, H. (2023). Retracted: New record and dietary ecology of an endangered amphibian species, Micryletta nigromaculata Poyarkov, Nguyen, Duong, Gorin & Yang, 2018, from Vietnam. Acta Herpetologica, 18(2), 131–138. https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-14516
Copyright (c) 2023 Hai Ngoc Ngo, Anh Van Pham, Truong Quang Nguyen, Nenh Ba Sung, Thuy Van Tran, Minh Duc Le
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
The Black-spotted Paddy Frog (Micryletta nigromaculata) was recently discovered from northern Vietnam. Due to its restricted distribution in limestone karst forests and habitat degradation, the endemic species has been listed as “Endangered” in the IUCN Red List. However, knowledge about the natural history of this species is scarce, including data on its dietary ecology. Recent field surveys revealed new populations of M. nigromaculata occurring in Son La Province, northwestern Vietnam based on morphological analysis. Using the stomach-flushing method, we analyzed stomach contents of 45 individuals (21 males and 24 females) from a total of 52 captured frogs because stomachs of six males and one female (13.5%) were empty. The food spectrum of M. nigromaculata comprises 12 types with a total of 691 prey items (687 invertebrate items and four unidentified items), belonging to six insect orders, larvae and Araneae. Similar to other species of the family Microhylidae, M. nigromaculata is also identified as an ant (Formicidae) – termite (Rhinotermitidae) eating specialist with distinctly higher percentages of occurrence frequency (F = 65 %), number of prey items (N = 80 %), and importance (Ix = 75 %) than those of remaining types. The Simpson diversity index of 0.939 shows a high abundance of food prey in the wild, and the Evenness index of 0.536 suggests biased consumption of feeding selection for M. nigromaculata.
References
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Simmons, E.J. (2002): Herpetological collecting and collections management. Society for the study Amphibian and Reptiles.
Solé, M., Beckmann, O., Pelz, B., Kwet, A., Egels, W. (2005): Stomach-flushing for diet analysis in anuran: an improved protocol evaluated in a case study in Araucaria forests, southern Brazil. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment, 40: 23-28.
Solé, M., Ketterl, J., Di-Bernardo, M., Kwet, A. (2002): Ants and termites are the diet of the microhylid frog Elachistocleis ovalis (Schneider, 1799) at an Araucaria forest in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Herpetological Bulletin. 79: 14-17.
Toft, C.A. (1980): Feeding ecology of thirteen syntopic species of anuran in a seasonal tropical environment. Oecologia. 45: 131-141.
Toledo, L.F., Silva, R.R., Haddad, C.F.B. (2007): Anurans as prey: an exploratory analysis and size relationships between predators and their prey. Journal of Zoology. 271: 170-177.
van Schingen, M., Pham, C.T., An, H.T., Nguyen, T.Q., Bernardes, M., Bonkowski, M., Ziegler, T. (2015). First ecological assessment of the endangered crocodile lizard Shinisaurus crocodilurus Ahl, 1930 in Vietnam: microhabitat characterization and habitat selection. Herpetological Conservation and Biology. 10: 948-958.
Wells, K.D. (2007): The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Berazategui, M., Camargo, A., Maneyro, R. (2007): Environmental and seasonal variation in the diet of Elachistocleis bicolor (Guérin-Méneville 1838) (Anura: Microhylidae) from northern Uruguay. Zoological Science. 24: 225-231.
Burton, T.M., Likens, G.E. (1975): Energy flow and nutrient cycling in salamander populations in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire. Ecology. 56: 1068-1080.
Caldart, V.M., Lop, S., Bertaso, T.R.N., Zanini, C. (2012): Feeding ecology of Crossodactylus schmidti (Anura: Hylodidae) in southern Brazil. Zoological Studies. 51: 484-493.
Clavel, J., Julliard, R., Devictor, V. (2011): Worldwide decline of specialist species: toward a global functional homogenization? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 9: 222-228.
Duellman, W.E., Trueb, L. (1994): Biology of Amphibians. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA.
Duré, M.I., Kehr, A.I., Schaefer, E.F. (2009): Niche overlap and resource partitioning among five sympatric bufonids (Anura, Bufonidae) from northeastern Argentina. Journal of Herpetology. 8: 27-39.
Frost, Darrel. R. (2023): Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. Available: https://amphibiansoftheworld.amnh.org/index.php. [Accessed: 02 February 2023]
Griffiths, R.A. (1986): Feeding niche overlap and food selection in Smooth and Palmate newts, Triturus vulgaris and T. helveticus, at a pond in mid-Wales. Journal of Animal Ecology. 55: 201-214.
Hirai, T., Matsui, M. (2001): Diet composition of the Indian Rice Frog, Rana limnocharis, in rice fields of central Japan. Current Herpetology. 20: 97-103.
Irschick, D.J., Vanhooydonck, B., Herrel, A., Meyers, J.J. (2005): Intraspecific correlations among morphology, performance, and habitat use within a Green Anole Lizard (Anolis carolinensis) population. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 85: 211-221.
Isacch, J.P., Barg, M. (2002): Are bufonid toads specialized ant feeders? A case test from the Argentinian flooding pampa. Journal of Natural History. 36: 2005-2012.
IUCN. (2023): The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available: https://www.iucnredlist.org [Accessed: 10 January 2023]
Johnson, N.F., Triplehorn, C.A. (2005): Borror and Delong’s Introduction to the Study of Insects. Thomson Learning Inc., Belmont, California, USA.
Krebs, C.J. (1999): Ecological Methodology. Addison Wesley Longman, Menlo Park, California, USA.
Le, T.T.D., Rowley, J.L.J., Tran, T.A.D., Vo, N.T., Hoang, D.H. (2018): Diet composition and overlap in a montane frog community in Vietnam. Herpetological Conservation and Biology. 13: 205-215.
Leclerc, J., Courtois, D. (1993): A simple stomach flushing method for ranid frogs. Herpetological Review. 24: 142-143.
Lopes, M.S., Bovendorp, R.S., Moraes, G.J.D., Percequillo, A.R., Bertoluci, J. (2017): Diversity of ants and mites in the diet of the Brazilian frog Chiasmocleis leucosticta (Anura: Microhylidae). Biota Neotropica. 17: 1-5.
Magnusson, W.E., Lima, A.P., Silva, W.A., Araújo, M.C. (2003): Use of geometric forms to estimate volume of invertebrates in ecological studies of dietary overlap. Copeia. 1: 13-19.
Magurran, A.E. (2004): Measuring Biological Diversity. Blackwell Science, Malden, Massachusetts, USA.
Maneyro, R.D.E., Naya, I.R., Canavero, A., Camargo, A. (2004): Diet of the South American frog Leptodactylus ocellatus (Anura, Leptodactylidae) in Uruguay. Iheringia Série Zoologia. 94: 57-61.
Muñoz-Pedreros, A., Merino, C. (2014): Diversity of aquatic bird species in a wetland complex in southern Chile. Journal of Natural History. 48: 1453-1465.
Naumann, I.D., Came, P.B., Lawrence, J.F., Nielsen, E.S., Spradbery, J.P., Taylor, R.W., Whitten, M.J., Littlejohn, M.J. (eds.). (1991): The Insects of Australia. 2 Vols, Division of Entomology, CSIRO, Australia. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, Australia, and Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.Norval, G., Huang, S.C., Mao, J.J., Goldberg, S.R., Yang, Y.J. (2014): Notes on the diets of five amphibian species from southwestern Taiwan. Alytes. 30: 69-77.
Oliveira, M.C.L.M., Santos, M.B., Loebmann, D., Hartman, A., Tozetti, A.M. (2013): Diversity and associations between coastal habitats and anurans in southernmost Brazil. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 85: 575-584.
Pham, V.A., Ngo, D.C., Nguyen, Q.T., Ngo, V.B. (2022): Diet of Microhyla butleri and M. heymonsi from Son La Province, Northwest, Vietnam. Herpetological Conservation and Biology. 17: 217-224.
Pham, V.A., Nguyen, Q.T., Nguyen, L.H.S., Tu, V.H., Song, B.N., Giang, A. H. (2016): Diversity of the Narrow-mouth frogs (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae) from Son La Province. Proceedings of the 2st National scientific conference on Biological research and teaching in Vietnam. 2: 37-42.
Poyarkov, N.A., Nguyen, T.V., Duong, T.V., Gorin, V.A., Yang, J.H. (2018): A new limestone-dwelling species of Micryletta (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae) from northern Vietnam. PeerJ. 6: 1-27.
Prado, C.P.A., Uetanabaro, M., Haddad, C.F.B. (2005): Breeding activity patterns, reproductive modes, and habitat use by anurans (Amphibia) in a seasonal environment in the Pantanal, Brazil. Amphibia-Reptilia. 26: 211-221.
RStudio Team. (2018): RStudio: Integrated Development for R. RStudio, Inc., Boston, MA, USA. Available at: http:// www.rstudio.com/.
Schoener, T.W. (1974): Resource partitioning in ecological communities. Science. 185: 27-39.
Simmons, E.J. (2002): Herpetological collecting and collections management. Society for the study Amphibian and Reptiles.
Solé, M., Beckmann, O., Pelz, B., Kwet, A., Egels, W. (2005): Stomach-flushing for diet analysis in anuran: an improved protocol evaluated in a case study in Araucaria forests, southern Brazil. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment, 40: 23-28.
Solé, M., Ketterl, J., Di-Bernardo, M., Kwet, A. (2002): Ants and termites are the diet of the microhylid frog Elachistocleis ovalis (Schneider, 1799) at an Araucaria forest in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Herpetological Bulletin. 79: 14-17.
Toft, C.A. (1980): Feeding ecology of thirteen syntopic species of anuran in a seasonal tropical environment. Oecologia. 45: 131-141.
Toledo, L.F., Silva, R.R., Haddad, C.F.B. (2007): Anurans as prey: an exploratory analysis and size relationships between predators and their prey. Journal of Zoology. 271: 170-177.
van Schingen, M., Pham, C.T., An, H.T., Nguyen, T.Q., Bernardes, M., Bonkowski, M., Ziegler, T. (2015). First ecological assessment of the endangered crocodile lizard Shinisaurus crocodilurus Ahl, 1930 in Vietnam: microhabitat characterization and habitat selection. Herpetological Conservation and Biology. 10: 948-958.
Wells, K.D. (2007): The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.