Amphibian sound recordings in Brazil are geographically and taxonomically biased and cover less than two-thirds of native species

Abstract Recordings of animal vocalizations are useful for behavioural, ecological, and taxonomic studies. Herein, we provide an overview of 15 sound collections in Brazilian institutions housing recordings of amphibian calls. For each collection, we assessed the number of recordings and species with audio files deposited. Based on the 25385 recordings, we provide a list of species, highlighting 26 species with undescribed calls. Hylidae (∼48%) and Leptodactylidae (∼21%) were the two most representative families, probably due to the high number of species described for these families. The number of recordings was not related to the age of the collections. We presume that there are some idiosyncratic features of these collections affecting these numbers, such as the collaborators’ network range and the public system for data input, that are more relevant than the collection age. Body size and geographical range size were strong predictors of the number of recordings available. Interestingly, closely related species had a similar number of recordings in the collections, suggesting a phylogenetic bias in sampling effort. More than 30% of native species are not represented in sound collections. Therefore, we emphasize the need for the creation of new bioacoustics collections, especially with more social engagement to obtain new records in currently underrepresented regions.

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Publication Details

Journal
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
Published
2025-09-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaf106
Primary Topic
Amphibian and Reptile Biology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Amphibian sound recordings in Brazil are geographically and taxonomically biased and cover less than two-thirds of native species

Alessandro Ribeiro de Morais, Marina H. L. Duarte, Simone Dena, Rogério Pereira Bastos et al.
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
Amphibian and Reptile Biology
article

Amphibian sound recordings in Brazil are geographically and taxonomically biased and cover less than two-thirds of native species

Alessandro Ribeiro de Morais, Marina H. L. Duarte, Simone Dena, Rogério Pereira Bastos, Werther Pereira Ramalho, Adrian Antonio Garda, Christine Strüssmann, Fábio Hepp, Thiago Ribeiro de Carvalho, André Pansonato, Milena Wachlevski, Sérgio Potsch de Carvalho-e-Silva, Pedro Ivo Simões, Luciana Barreto Nascimento, Lucas Rodriguez Forti, Diego José Santana, Célio F. B. Haddad, Carlos Eduardo Costa-Campos, Luı́s Felipe Toledo, Carolina Emília dos Santos
article en

Abstract

Abstract Recordings of animal vocalizations are useful for behavioural, ecological, and taxonomic studies. Herein, we provide an overview of 15 sound collections in Brazilian institutions housing recordings of amphibian calls. For each collection, we assessed the number of recordings and species with audio files deposited. Based on the 25385 recordings, we provide a list of species, highlighting 26 species with undescribed calls. Hylidae (∼48%) and Leptodactylidae (∼21%) were the two most representative families, probably due to the high number of species described for these families. The number of recordings was not related to the age of the collections. We presume that there are some idiosyncratic features of these collections affecting these numbers, such as the collaborators’ network range and the public system for data input, that are more relevant than the collection age. Body size and geographical range size were strong predictors of the number of recordings available. Interestingly, closely related species had a similar number of recordings in the collections, suggesting a phylogenetic bias in sampling effort. More than 30% of native species are not represented in sound collections. Therefore, we emphasize the need for the creation of new bioacoustics collections, especially with more social engagement to obtain new records in currently underrepresented regions.

Biological Journal of the Linnean SocietyVol. 146(4)
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (BR), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (BR), Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (BR), Universidade Federal da Bahia (BR), Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (BR), Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) (BR), Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (BR), Instituto Federal Goiano (BR), Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (BR), Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Biophysics (CZ), Departamento Nacional de Produção Mineral (BR), Universidade Federal do Amapá (BR), Universidade Federal de Goiás (BR), Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido (BR), Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) (BR)
Openalex Percentile: Top 64%
Amphibian and Reptile Biology
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