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Dinner Time in the Atlantic Forest: Trophic Niche Partitioning of Two Sympatric Boana Species in the Southern Bahia State, Brazil

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  • Amanda Sabino Martins,
  • Kássio de Castro Araújo,
  • Heitor Zochio Fischer,
  • Mirco Solé,
  • Danilo Silva Ruas,
  • Caio Vinícius de Mira-Mendes,
  • Iuri Ribeiro Dias
Amanda Sabino Martins
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz
Kássio de Castro Araújo
Universidade Estadual do Maranhão
Heitor Zochio Fischer
Universidade de Sorocaba
Mirco Solé
Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz - UESC, Campus Soane Nazaré de Andrade, Rod. Jorge Amado, Km 16 - Salobrinho, CEP 45662-900, Ilhéus, Brasil
Danilo Silva Ruas
Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia
Caio Vinícius de Mira-Mendes
Universidade Estadual do Maranhão
Iuri Ribeiro Dias
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-18506

Published 2026-02-09

Keywords

  • Amphibian,
  • Diet composition,
  • Feeding habit,
  • Hylidae

How to Cite

Sabino Martins, A., de Castro Araújo, K., Zochio Fischer, H., Solé, M., Silva Ruas, D., de Mira-Mendes, C. V., & Ribeiro Dias, I. (2026). Dinner Time in the Atlantic Forest: Trophic Niche Partitioning of Two Sympatric Boana Species in the Southern Bahia State, Brazil. Acta Herpetologica. https://doi.org/10.36253/a_h-18506

Copyright (c) 2026 Amanda Sabino Martins, Kássio de Castro Araújo, Heitor Zochio Fischer, Danilo Silva Ruas, Caio Vinícios de Mira-Mendes, Iuri Ribeiro Dias

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

Understanding the ecological traits of species, such as dietary habits, is important for elucidating their natural history and ecological interactions. Thus, we investigated the trophic ecology and niche partitioning of two treefrog species (Boana atlantica and B. semilineata) in an Atlantic Forest fragment in southern Bahia State, northeastern Brazil. For that, we obtained the diet of 39 B. atlantica and 25 B. semilineata through stomachal flushing. We found in these two hylids 72 prey items organized into 11 categories, with plant material and Araneae as the most consumed prey. Although the niche breadth of B. atlantica was slightly higher than B. semilineata, these hylids had a substantial trophic niche overlap. Our findings provide novel insights into the feeding ecology of these endemic Atlantic Forest treefrogs, enhancing our understanding of their ecological roles and trophic resource partitioning in this biodiversity hotspot.

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