Evolutionary and adaptive aspects of parental care in foam-nesting frogs (Leptodactylidae)

• Grant number: 24/01024-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: July 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Luis Felipe de Toledo Ramos Pereira
• Grantee: Juan Fernando Cuestas Carrillo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

A particular feature of the reproduction of some organisms is parental care, considered an evolutionary advantage for increasing offspring survival. Parental care behaviors have been described in insects, arachnids, fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles, and mammals. Despite being better known in groups such as birds and mammals, parental care in amphibians presents a wide variety of behaviors. Within the foam-nesting frog family (Leptodactylidae), care may include egg care, tadpole care, and feeding. In particular, during care, some species undergo changes in the architecture and chemical composition of the skin. Despite the current knowledge about parental care in the Leptodactylidae family, some aspects remain unexplored. For example, the evolution of parental care in the family has been studied only indirectly, skin adaptations for parental care are known only for L. podicipinus, and finally, the brain activity during parental care in Leptodactylus species is unknown. In this context, I intend with this project to study various evolutionary and adaptive aspects of parental care in the Leptodactylidae family. I expect to understand the evolution of different types of parental care in the genus Leptodactylus through a comparative phylogenetic analysis and the reconstruction of the ancestral character. Additionally, I will study the structural adaptations of the skin of L. macrosternum for parental care and its chemical differences, to extend the known adaptations in L. podicipinus to a species of the L. latrans group. Finally, I pretend to identify the "upregulated" genes in the brain of L. podicipinus during parental care and their functions, which may keep parental care behaviors active in the attending females.