A Bromeliad Breeding Frog with Free-Swimming, Nonfeeding Tadpoles (Anura, Microhylidae)

Syncope antenori, inhabiting the Serrania del Sira mountain range (east-central Peru), is a microhylid whose larval life is adapted to bromeliads. Characteristic features include few eggs arranged in a filmlike clutch, a short developmental period, and limited larval growth. Syncope antenori deposits eggs in terrestrial, water-filled bromeliads (Guzmania weberbaueri). Eggs and tadpoles, found during the rainy season from Sept. to March, complete development within 25 days. Syncope antenori tadpoles are free swimming, nonfeeding, and have heavily yolk-filled gastrointestinal tracts until metamorphosis. They belong to reproductive mode 6 of Duellman and Trueb's classification system. This mode of reproduction was previously unknown for the neotropics. [References: 34]