Leandro Talione Sabagh

Bio: Leandro Talione Sabagh is an academic researcher from Rio de Janeiro State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Scinax & Leptodactylidae. The author has an hindex of 7, co-authored 9 publications receiving 122 citations. Previous affiliations of Leandro Talione Sabagh include Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.

News records of phoresy and hyperphoresy among treefrogs, ostracods, and ciliates in bromeliad of Atlantic forest

Abstract: The bromeliad habitat contributes to a high biodiversity and we recorded three treefrog species as new phoretic agents of ostracods, and a first case of hyperphoresy among treefrogs, ostracods and ciliates, in these habitats of Atlantic Forest. Densities of ciliates and ostracods showed significant relationships suggesting the importance of hyperphoresy for ciliate dispersion.

Host bromeliads and their associated frog species: Further considerations on the importance of species interactions for conservation

Abstract: Bromeliads constitute a good example of symbiosis with organisms that spend their entire life cycle inside the plants, and often depend on them to breed. The bromeliads benefit from this interaction by increasing their nutrients intake. Conservation efforts tend to focus on a single endangered species, but in symbiotic associations, the viability of one species depends on that of the other. Based on IUCN criteria, any species that depends on another to complete its life cycle should be assigned a conservation status equivalent to that of the host taxon, where appropriate. We gathered published plus fieldwork data on the frog-bromeliad mutualism and compiled a checklist of 99 bromeligenous frogs species associated to 69 bromeliad hosts, and found threatened bromeliads hosting non-threatened frogs. We found that 62% bromeligenous frogs inhabit unspecified bromeliads. Finally, we propose strategies for improving understanding and conservation of the frog-bromeliad mutualism.

Diet of the toad Rhinella icterica (Anura: Bufonidae) from Atlantic Forest Highlands of southeastern Brazil

Abstract: In this study, we present some information of the regarding throphic niche from the anuran toad Rhinella icterica living in high altitudes above 2000 m a.s.l. from a habitat of the Atlantic Forest Biome - the Altitude Fields in the Itatiaia National Park. We found 150 prey items in toad stomachs, belonging to five prey types, as well as skin remains and some remains of plant material. The index of relative importance indicated that most important prey types were beetles and ants, these last composing 70% of the diet numerically and the trophic niche breadth (B) was 1.81. The relatively low diversity of prey types we recorded in the diet of R. icterica of Itatiaia and numerically dominated by ants suggests some preference for this item. We do not found significant relationship between the toad measurements with the preys' measurements. We concluded that R. icterica toads at the highlands of Itatiaia feeds on arthropods, mainly ants and coleopterans and that the high consumption of preys with relatively small and similar size as ants in the diet prevents an expected relationship among frog body or mouth size and prey volume and size.

Living together, sometimes feeding in a similar way: the case of the syntopic hylid frogs Hypsiboas raniceps and Scinax acuminatus (Anura: Hylidae) in the Pantanal of Miranda, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil

Abstract: Nos estudamos a ecologia trofica de duas especies de anuros hilideos (Hypsiboas raniceps e Scinax acuminatus), vivendo simpatrica e sintopicamente no Pantanal do Miranda, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil. As duas especies possuiram largura da boca similar mas diferiram no tamanho do corpo. Ambas as especies consumiram artropodos, distribuidos em 11 diferentes tipos de presas das quais sete foram comuns entre elas. A amplitude do nicho trofico de H. raniceps (BA = 0,64) foi relativamente superior aquela de S. acuminatus (BA = 0,48). A sobreposicao do nicho trofico entre as especies foi de 60,7 %. Embora, para muitas especies, a dieta tenda a refletir a disponibilidade de presas no microhabitat, nossos resultados sugerem que estas duas especies de anuros, apesar de partilharem microhabitat e periodo de atividade (e, portanto, potencialmente estarem expostas ao mesmo universo de presas) tendem a diferir em algum grau nas suas dietas (cerca de 40%) o que pode ser resultante de alguns aspectos ecologicos intrinsecos a cada uma delas (e.g. ecofisiologia) e/ou diferencas no tamanho corporeo.

Larval Diet in Bromeliad Pools: A Case Study of Tadpoles of Two Species in the Genus Scinax (Hylidae)

Abstract: Many species of frogs that breed in bromeliads exhibit parental care as females deposit unfertilized eggs to feed the tadpoles. Treefrogs of the genus Scinax are not known to exhibit this behavior, even though they have exotrophic tadpoles. The purpose of this study was to describe qualitatively and quantitatively the diets of tadpoles of hylids S. littoreus and S. perpusillus developing in the phytothelm of Alcantarea glaziouana (Bromeliaceae). We evaluate if there are seasonal and spatial differences (between tadpoles living in the central tank and the lateral tanks) in the diet, and to test for food selectivity of the species. The most abundant items in the diet of tadpoles of both species were, respectively, algae, fungi, and protozoa. Detritus and plant debris were present in the diet of more than 90% of the tadpoles of the two species. The trophic niche breadth for S. littoreus was 1.26, whereas that for S. perpusillus was 1.54. The tadpole diets were seasonally conservative for both tadpole species...

A new species

Abstract: We redescribe the only previously known species of Myrsidea from bulbuls, M. pycnonoti Eichler. Sixteen new species are described; they and their type hosts are: M. phillipsi ex Pycnonotus goiavier goiavier (Scopoli), M. gieferi ex P. goiavier suluensis Mearns, M. kulpai ex P. flavescens Blyth, M. finlaysoni ex P. finlaysoni Strickland, M. kathleenae ex P. cafer (L.), M. warwicki ex Ixos philippinus (J. R. Forster), M. mcclurei ex Microscelis amaurotis (Temminck), M. zeylanici ex P. zeylanicus (Gmelin), M. plumosi ex P. plumosus Blyth, M. eutiloti ex P. eutilotus (Jardine and Selby), M. adamsae ex P. urostictus (Salvadori), M. ochracei ex Criniger ochraceus F. Moore, M. borbonici ex Hypsipetes borbonicus (J. R. Forster), M. johnsoni ex P. atriceps (Temminck), M. palmai ex C. ochraceus, and M. claytoni ex P. eutilotus. A key is provided for the identification of these 17 species.

Phylogenetic Systematics of Dart-Poison Frogs and Their Relatives Revisited (Anura: Dendrobatoidea)

Abstract: . Despite the impressive growth of knowledge on the phylogenetic systematics of dart-poison frogs and their relatives (Dendrobatoidea) over the past decade, many problems remain to be addressed. We analyzed up to 189 phenomic characters (morphology, behavior, defensive chemicals) and 15 mitochondrial and nuclear loci scored for 564 dendrobatoid and outgroup terminals, including 76 newly sequenced terminals and > 20 previously unanalyzed species, using tree-alignment and the parsimony optimality criterion in the program POY v.5.1.1 and additional analyses of the implied alignment using TNT v.1.5. Even though data coverage was highly heterogeneous, the strict consensus of 639 optimal trees is highly resolved and we detected only one instance of wildcard behavior involving a small clade of outgroup species. The monophyly of the median lingual process (MLP) possessing genus Anomaloglossus is decisively refuted, with the cis-Andean species being sister to Rheobates within Aromobatidae and the trans-And...

Long-distance passive dispersal in microscopic aquatic animals.

Abstract: Given their dormancy capability (long-term resistant stages) and their ability to colonise and reproduce, microscopic aquatic animals have been suggested having cosmopolitan distribution. Their dormant stages may be continuously moved by mobile elements through the entire planet to any suitable habitat, preventing the formation of biogeographical patterns. In this review, I will go through the evidence we have on the most common microscopic aquatic animals, namely nematodes, rotifers, and tardigrades, for each of the assumptions allowing long-distance dispersal (dormancy, viability, and reproduction) and all the evidence we have for transportation, directly from surveys of dispersing stages, and indirectly from the outcome of successful dispersal in biogeographical and phylogeographical studies. The current knowledge reveals biogeographical patterns also for microscopic organisms, with species-specific differences in ecological features that make some taxa indeed cosmopolitan with the potential for long-distance dispersal, but others with restricted geographic distributions.

Developments in Amphibian Parental Care Research : History, Present Advances, and Future Perspectives

Abstract: Despite rising interest among scientists for over two centuries, parental care behavior has not been as thoroughly studied in amphibians as it has in other taxa. The first reports of amphi...