Integrating the behavioural and chemical ecology of antipredator defences in Costa Rican poison frogs
Golfo Dulce Poison Dart Frog (Phyllobates vittatus)
La Sirena, Corcovado NP, Osa Peninsula, COSTA RICA Image Bernard DUPONT
Funded by a joint grant from the Max Planck Society and El Consejo Nacional de Rectores (CONARE) Francesca Protti-Sánchez is conducting a comparative study on Costa Rican poison frogs that display a natural gradient of colour and toxicity. We focus on five conspicuous and chemically defended frogs: Oophaga pumilio, O. granulifera, Dendrobates auratus, Phyllobates vittatus, P. lugubris, and three cryptic and undefended species: Silverstoneia flotator, S. nubicola, Allobates talamancae. We aim to understand how coloration, toxicity, and behavior interact.
Publications
Klank, J., Profit-Sánchez, F., Mora-Rojas, P., Rowland, H.M., Stynoski, J. How to move and when to escape: quantifying intraspecific exploratory and anti-predator behaviour in an aposematic poison frog. Ecology and Evolution, 1-18.