Data from: Induced parental care in a poison frog: a tadpole cross-fostering experiment

Understanding the external stimuli and natural contexts that elicit
complex behaviours, such as parental care, is key in linking behavioural
mechanisms to their real-life function. Poison frogs provide obligate
parental care by shuttling their tadpoles from terrestrial clutches to
aquatic nurseries, but little is known about the proximate mechanisms that
control these behaviours. In this study, we used Allobates femoralis, a
poison frog with predominantly male parental care, to investigate whether
tadpole transport can be induced in both sexes by transferring unrelated
tadpoles to the backs of adults in the field. Specifically, we asked
whether the presence of tadpoles on an adult's back can override the
decision-making rules preceding tadpole pick-up and induce the recall of
spatial memory necessary for finding tadpole deposition sites. We used
telemetry to facilitate accurate tracking of individual frogs and spatial
analysis to compare movement trajectories. All tested individuals
transported their foster-tadpoles to water pools outside their home area.
Contrary to our expectation, we found no sex difference in the likelihood
to transport or in the spatial accuracy of finding tadpole deposition
sites. We reveal that a stereotypical cascade of parental behaviours that
naturally involves sex-specific offspring recognition strategies and the
use of spatial memory can be manipulated by experimental placement of
unrelated tadpoles on adult frogs. As individuals remained inside their
home area when only the jelly from tadpole-containing clutches was brushed
on the back, we speculate that tactile rather than chemical stimuli
trigger these parental behaviours.