Data from: Developmental plasticity to desiccation risk in tadpoles of a tropical inselberg specialist

Developmental plasticity evolves in heterogeneous environmental conditions
as long as individuals can accurately perceive them. A paradigmatic
example of developmental plasticity is the ability of amphibian larvae to
alter growth and development in response to the risk of pond drying. Such
responses are often found in amphibian species breeding in highly dynamic
water bodies with high desiccation risk. The inselbergs of the Guianan
Shield are rocky outcrops with extremely high and fluctuating temperatures
and a marked seasonality in precipitation. During the rainy season, eroded
depressions form precipitation-dependent pools with a high and variable
risk of desiccation within a timeframe of a few days. The frog
Leptodactylus lithonaetes specializes in breeding in this extreme
environment, and its tadpoles are thus forced to cope with desiccation
risk by trading off changes in their developmental trajectories and
physiological performance. We experimentally assessed the effect of
different levels of desiccation risk on developmental rate, growth, and
temperature-depending locomotor performance in tadpoles of Leptodactylus
lithonaetes. We did not find an effect of desiccation risk on
developmental rate, but under simulated drying conditions, tadpoles showed
larger body size, greater body mass, and enhanced locomotor performance
compared to constant (high or low) water levels. These results suggest
that drying pools offer cues that trigger developmental and behavioral
changes in these tadpoles, enabling them to enhance growth without
accelerating development over a short time span. We discuss the potential
compensatory mechanisms behind these responses and highlight the need for
further investigations in species with semiterrestrial life histories in
extreme environments.