1. Food spectrum analysis of the Asian toad,Duttaphrynus melanostictus(Schneider, 1799) (Anura: Bufonidae), from Timor Island, Wallacea
- Author
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Max Kieckbusch, Hinrich Kaiser, Mark O’Shea, Britta Döring, and Sven Mecke
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,biology ,Thrips ,Ecology ,Range (biology) ,Fauna ,010607 zoology ,biology.organism_classification ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Predation ,Habitat ,Duttaphrynus ,Endemism ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Tropical Asia - Abstract
The Asian toad, Duttaphrynus melanostictus (Schneider, 1799), is widespread throughout tropical Asia and very abundant where it occurs. It was relatively recently introduced to Timor, the second largest island in the biogeographic region called Wallacea. Timor Island shows an exceptionally high level of endemism in a wide range of faunal groups and there are concerns that D. melanostictus may have a negative impact on this diversity, including vertebrates, through direct predation. To evaluate the impact the diet of D. melanostictus might have on the local fauna, gut contents of 83 preserved toad specimens from five habitat types in Timor-Leste, a country occupying the eastern half of Timor Island, were examined. We identified 5581 prey items, comprising the following animal groups: annelids; snails and slugs; spiders and harvestmen; woodlice; millipedes and centipedes; grasshoppers, crickets and earwigs; termites; thrips and true bugs; beetles; ants; hymenopterans other than ants; true flies; but...
- Published
- 2017
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