Cuidado parental de Frostius pernambucensis Bokermann, 1962 (Anura, Bufonidae) - um anfíbio endêmico da Mata Atlântica nordestina.

Abstract

Parental care in amphibians may be of the facultative, maternal, paternal or biparental type and may involve assistance, transportation in some stages of life, such as spawning, tadpoles or young people. In general description of parental care in Brazilian anurans are rare, especially in the Bufonidade family. Frostius pernambuscensis is a species belonging to the Bufonidae family, exclusively endemic to the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil, categorized as a species vulnerable to the risk of extinction for the state of Pernambuco, and is thus contemplated by the National Action Plan for the conservation of the Northeastern herpetofauna. The present work had as objective to describe the parental care of Frostius pernambucensis, its behavioral repertoire, predation event and to propose an educational instrument, a paradidatic, to aid in educational actions. In total, three spawnings were observed at two oviposition sites, two in 2015 (one in July and one in August) and one in March 2017, all containing male F. pernambucensis individuals tending both eggs and larvae in plant phytophorisms (one with about 0.60 m of soil, and another with approximately 1.20 m). In total, 47 behavioral acts were recorded in six subcategories; (17.36%), manipulation of offspring (14.78%), displacement (12.99%), vocalization (9.71%), and maintenance behaviors (1, 64%), all belonging to the category of parental care. During the observations, a predatory event occurred, where a frog of the family Hylidae, Scinax eurydice was found feeding on tadpoles of F. pernambucensis belonging to the third spawning registered in the parental care. Finally, translating the scientific language that described the phenomena observed in this research, we elaborated a proposal of a paradidatic book that tells the story of the parental care done by the male to eggs and newly hatched larvae, involving from contexts and behavioral acts covered in this assistance process , to the inclusion of elements of human society, mainly cultural elements typical of Pernambuco and Northeastern culture, since this animal was described in the state of Pernambuco, in order to bring the reality of the two universes closer together, that of the reader who identifies with the history of the character, and the fauna represented by the character that becomes known and popularized, which is of great relevance, especially close to areas protected by Conservation Unit as is the case of PEDI.