What explains vast differences in jumping power within a clade? diversity, ecology, and evolution of anuran jumping power

1. Anuran (frog and toad) jumping power varies greatly across
species, yet muscle power does not. Given that the jumping power of some
species is up to five times higher than typical muscle power, power
amplification by elastic elements is suggested to explain this
discrepancy. However, the ecological reasons for this variation in jumping
power are unclear. One hypothesis is that small jumpers are limited by the
time available to accelerate their body during take-off, leading to small
species needing greater power production than larger species to achieve
similar jumping performance. Another (non-mutually exclusive) hypothesis
is that the microhabitat species inhabit may drive variation through
trade-offs with performance in microhabitat-specific, non-jumping
behaviors.  2. We compared jumping power across 68
anuran species that were diverse in evolutionary relationships,
microhabitat use, and body mass. We used phylogenetic comparative methods
to compare the role of microhabitat and body mass in explaining variation
in jumping power across species.  3. We found the
strongest support for a model that included two factors and their
interaction. First, as body mass increased, jumping power decreased.
Second, species that burrowed showed lower jumping power than species that
did not burrow. Third, the interaction between body mass and burrowing
behavior showed that jumping power declines more rapidly with body mass in
burrowing species than non-burrowing species.  4. The
effect of body mass suggests that interspecific variation in jumping power
might be partly explained by scaling relationships. Anurans with small
body mass may be able to achieve similar locomotor performance (e.g.
takeoff velocity) as those with larger body mass, by more effectively
amplifying muscle power. Additionally, the effect of burrowing behavior
suggests that species that use hindlimbs to burrow may experience a
reduction in their ability to generate jumping power. This may indicate a
functional trade-off between jumping and burrowing performance.