Can the morphological variation of Amazonian bufonidae (Amphibia, Anura) be predicted by their habits and habitats?

Abstract

The species of the Bufonidae family exhibit a great diversity of habitats, diurnal or nocturnal habits, a complex evolutionary history, and a wide distribution, which makes this group suitable for morphological studies. In this work, we aimed to identify the existence of morphological patterns related to the habitat use and diurnal or nocturnal habits of Bufonidae in the Brazilian Amazon. To achieve this, we studied the morphological measurements of 210 specimens from three zoological collections and characterized the type of habitat and diurnality/ nocturnality of the species. The morphological patterns and habitat use were investigated through principal component analysis (PCA) and multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), respectively. The evaluation of the relationships between morphological variation, habitat use, and diurnality/nocturnality was performed via redundancy analysis (RDA). Accordingly, Amazonian bufonids were divided into three morphological groups associated with different vegetation types and environments, demonstrating that body size is closely linked to diurnal or nocturnal life habits and habitat. Species with large body sizes are associated to anthropized areas, while intermediate and smaller species are associated with primary forests.