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The Patagonian Andes are home to rainforests from temperate-cold to steppes and alpine environments, depending on geographical location and altitude. This great environmental variety is inhabited by a diverse fauna of anurans, composed of 28 species grouped into 12 genera and six families (Calyptocephalellidae, Rhinodermatidae, Batrachylidae, Alsodidae, Leptodactylidae and Bufonidae). This anurofauna, rich in endemisms at the species, genus, and family level, displays a wide variety of reproductive modes and strategies and larval development, aspects that are much less well-known in temperate and cold areas of the planet than in tropical ones. In this chapter, we comparatively analyze this assemblage, taking into account the characteristics of their eggs and clutch structure, the duration of embryonic development, the types of larvae according to their trophism, ecomorphological type, and the temporality of the larval stage. Reproductive and developmental patterns are analyzed and discussed in the context of the prevailing environmental conditions in the different macroenvironments inhabited by these species. Most species (64.28%) present a generalized reproductive mode, with aquatic eggs and exotrophic aquatic larvae without parental care, mostly from lentic waters. A subset of species belonging to endemic genera, which only inhabit the austral temperate rainforests, present specialized reproductive modes with a certain degree of terrestriality in development and parental care of eggs and larvae, some of which present endotrophic larvae. In the other macroenvironments of the Patagonian Andes, only generalized reproductive modes are present, with a predominance of exotrophic larvae from lentic waters. It is striking the number of species with prolonged larval development, which involves one or more winters. This strategy seems to be common and occurs in at least six genera of the studied anurofauna. In addition, the absence of direct development, corresponding to the predominant condition of exotrophic larvae, is evident.

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Anurans of the Patagonian Andes: A Little-Known Variety of Reproductive and Developmental Strategies

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Carmen A. Úbeda,
  • Helen Díaz-Páez,
  • Felipe E. Rabanal

摘要

The Patagonian Andes are home to rainforests from temperate-cold to steppes and alpine environments, depending on geographical location and altitude. This great environmental variety is inhabited by a diverse fauna of anurans, composed of 28 species grouped into 12 genera and six families (Calyptocephalellidae, Rhinodermatidae, Batrachylidae, Alsodidae, Leptodactylidae and Bufonidae). This anurofauna, rich in endemisms at the species, genus, and family level, displays a wide variety of reproductive modes and strategies and larval development, aspects that are much less well-known in temperate and cold areas of the planet than in tropical ones. In this chapter, we comparatively analyze this assemblage, taking into account the characteristics of their eggs and clutch structure, the duration of embryonic development, the types of larvae according to their trophism, ecomorphological type, and the temporality of the larval stage. Reproductive and developmental patterns are analyzed and discussed in the context of the prevailing environmental conditions in the different macroenvironments inhabited by these species. Most species (64.28%) present a generalized reproductive mode, with aquatic eggs and exotrophic aquatic larvae without parental care, mostly from lentic waters. A subset of species belonging to endemic genera, which only inhabit the austral temperate rainforests, present specialized reproductive modes with a certain degree of terrestriality in development and parental care of eggs and larvae, some of which present endotrophic larvae. In the other macroenvironments of the Patagonian Andes, only generalized reproductive modes are present, with a predominance of exotrophic larvae from lentic waters. It is striking the number of species with prolonged larval development, which involves one or more winters. This strategy seems to be common and occurs in at least six genera of the studied anurofauna. In addition, the absence of direct development, corresponding to the predominant condition of exotrophic larvae, is evident.