Describe copulation and oviposition of frog briefly. cuvinestions on the basis of the
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mating partners [58]. Mating occurs inside the male’s territory after a long and complex courtship [59] (Stückler S, unpublished data), and egg clutches are deposited in the leaf litter. Females leave the male territory soon after mating [57, 60]. About 3 weeks after oviposition the tadpoles hatch and are transported by the father to small pools of water, where larval development is completed [61, 62]. Females only transport tadpoles if the male is absent at the time when tadpole transport is due [63], in which case, they will only select their own clutch for transport based on its exact location [23].
Setup/housing
The experiments were conducted from 10 February to 21 December 2016 in the animal care facilities of the Biocenter Althanstrasse of the University of Vienna. Each experiment was performed in a standard glass terrarium with a floor area of 60 × 40 cm and 40 cm height. Each terrarium had the same furnishing and equipment; the side walls and back wall were covered with xaxim and cork mats, the floor was covered with expanded clay pebbles. Dried oak leaves were provided as a substrate for egg clutches. Each terrarium contained a glass bowl of 12 cm diameter filled with approximately 350 ml of reverse osmosis water, a small plant, half a coconut shell as a hiding place, and a branch. The front of each terrarium was covered with fabric to prevent visual contact with other individuals and other disturbances. Climatic conditions were similar to natural conditions in French Guiana and standardized in all terraria through an automatic heating, lighting, and raining system. The temperature ranged from 19 °C at night to 30 °C during the day. Lights were on from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and humidity was constantly at 100%. All frogs are fed every second day with wingless fruit flies.
Experimental design
We pseudo randomly assigned females (total N = 40 females) to one of the four test conditions (N = 10 females/condition). No female participated twice in any trial. In all trials we placed an unrelated clutch inside the experimental terrarium, but manipulated the presence of the father, the presence of the tested female’s own clutch, and the familiarity of the female with the given area (Fig. 1). In the condition “home” we tested if females prey on unrelated clutches when encountered inside their home terrarium. For this, females were shortly (5–10 min) removed from their terrarium, an unrelated clutch (i.e. a clutch from another breeding pair) was placed inside the tank, and subsequently the female was returned to her home terrarium. In “out” we tested if females cannibalize unrelated clutches in an unoccupied and unfamiliar location. Here, females were transferred to an unfamiliar empty terrarium that only contained an unrelated clutch. In “out M+” we tested if females cannibalize unrelated clutches in a foreign terrarium where the respective father was present. As after the first trials of “out M+”, we recorded that females and males immediately started courting and in most cases produced a novel clutch, we added another condition to better disentangle the effects of oviposition and male presence. In “out M-”, females were transferred to a foreign terrarium with an unrelated clutch and the respective father present (like in “out M+”); however, the male was removed from the terrarium immediately after clutch production