Rogério Pereira Bastos

Recordings of animal vocalizations are useful for behavioural, ecological, and taxonomic studies. Herein, we provide an overview of 15 sound collections in Brazilian institutions housing recordings of amphibian calls. For each collection, we assessed the number of recordings and species with audio files deposited. Based on the 25385 recordings, we provide a list of species, highlighting 26 species with undescribed calls. Hylidae (∼48%) and Leptodactylidae (∼21%) were the two most representative families, probably due to the high number of species described for these families. The number of recordings was not related to the age of the collections. We presume that there are some idiosyncratic features of these collections affecting these numbers, such as the collaborators’ network range and the public system for data input, that are more relevant than the collection age. Body size and geographical range size were strong predictors of the number of recordings available. Interestingly, closely related species had a similar number of recordings in the collections, suggesting a phylogenetic bias in sampling effort. More than 30% of native species are not represented in sound collections. Therefore, we emphasize the need for the creation of new bioacoustics collections, especially with more social engagement to obtain new records in currently underrepresented regions.

We inventoried medium- and large-sized mammals in private properties in a long- term ecological program entitled Effect of Landscape Configuration and Composition on Biodiversity: Multilevel Analysis (PELD EBMN), in Southwest of Goiás state, Brazilian Midwest, Cerrado. We inventoried 60 sites in forest fragments inside private properties using camera trap, between March 2022 and April 2023, with 30 days of continuous sampled, after which the camera trap was removed and reinstalled after a period of approximately six months. We registered a total of 31 medium- and large-sized mammals species, with our sampled effort, the largest one employed in the region, the richness found here is the largest already recorded for this region, representing 60% of medium- and large-sized mammals listed from Cerrado. Beyond this, we found seven threatened and two “Data deficient” species, which highlights that despite deforestation in the last century, this region is still capable of harboring threatened species. However, we recorded three exotic, invasive, or domestic species, which is a worrying scenario, which could compromise the ecological balance of the region. Finally, we found that Tapirus terrestris, although threatened, was the most frequent species recorded in our study, showing the potential of this area for medium- and large-sized mammals conservation. Therefore, in the first sampled year of PELD EBMN we found a medium- and large-sized mammals richest in the study area, showing the potential of this project in the long term.

Anura, one of the most studied taxa regarding intersexual selection, has been considered a model for experiments on female preferences for decades. Despite this, there is still much to learn about most species and different topics. We describe the current state of knowledge on anuran intersexual selection (e.g., most studied taxa, themes, types of signals, and traits) through a scientometric review. Our survey identified and classified 521 studies published between 1975 and 2022, and a yearly publication rate of 10.85 articles. Most studies were classified into the research themes of mating preferences (314) or mating success (180), while only a few fit into selection analysis (52) or signal recognition (22). In studies on mating preferences, acoustic features were the most explored, especially the female’s preference for the dominant frequency (79). Even though a considerable diversity was embraced in our survey (203 species), we found that most efforts concentrate on a small set of species (nearly 40% of the records are about the 10 most studied species). Of those, Engystomops pustulosos (63) and Dryophytes versicolor (60) are by far the most studied. Considering the type of signal, acoustic communication was explored more often (292 studies) in comparison to visual (35), acoustic-visual (23), and chemical (2) signals. Our findings in this review point to a considerable bias in anuran intersexual selection studies regarding species, themes, and types of signals studied, which we discuss. We also make recommendations for future studies.

The Brazilian Cerrado is undergoing important changes. It is estimated that 70% of its natural area has converted to human use. The loss and fragmentation of natural habitats is considered the main cause of species loss in ecosystems. However, the lack of knowledge of biodiversity makes it difficult to design effective conservation measures. This article presents a list and an estimate of the richness of bats in the Parque Estadual Altamiro de Moura Pacheco (PEAMP) in Goiás. All collected bats belong to the Phyllostomidae family, with Carollia perspicillata (67%) and Artibeus planirostris (18%) representing 86% of the captured individuals.

During the breeding season, hundreds of anurans agglomerate at spawning sites, where a diversity of social contexts arise. In this scenario, anurans may alter their vocal repertoire according to the immediate social context, to overcome intraspecific competition. To evaluate the acoustic response of Boana goiana to successive interactions with a conspecific competitor, the present study was based on comparing the repetition rates of advertisement and aggressive calls of B. goiana focal males exposure to repeated artificial advertisement calls in 10 playback sessions. We observed that B. goiana males altered their acoustic behaviour in response to the simulated arrival of a new competitor. Males emitted less advertisement calls and more aggressive calls with the arrival of the competitors. Temperature and body condition were not important predictors of continuity of males in the experiment or the call repetition rates in the pre-playback session. However, the body condition influenced the total delta advertisement calls (differences in the call rate emission between end and the beginning of the experiment), indicating that higher values of body conditions allow males to show smaller reductions in the emission of advertisement calls over time in the presence of a competitor.