The advertisement call of Pristimantis unistrigatus (Anura: Strabomantidae) from the Ecuadorian Andes

Abstract

In anurans, advertisement calls are typically emitted during breeding seasons by adult males to attract females and to convey a territorial signal to conspecific males (Wells 2007, Toledo et al. 2014, Köhler et al. 2017). Vocalizations may provide species-specific information useful for taxonomic and systematic assessments because they act as a premating isolating mechanism and may thus carry a phylogenetic signal (Köhler et al. 2017). Moreover, studying the vocalizations of frogs and toads enhances a more comprehensive understanding about their population and distribution dynamics, allowing for the acoustic monitoring of targeted species (Teixeira et al. 2019). Pristimantis unistrigatus (Günther, 1859), also known as “Cutín Quiteño”, is a small frog (SVL: males = 14.9–28.8 mm; females = 22.5– 38.5 mm) that occurs at high elevations (2200