Data from: Parental care and the evolution of terrestriality in frogs

Frogs and toads (Anura) exhibit some of the most diverse parental
strategies in vertebrates. Identifying the evolutionary origins of
parenting is fundamental to understanding the relationships between sexual
selection, social evolution and parental care systems of contemporary
Anura. Moreover, parenting has been hypothesized to allow the invasion of
terrestrial habitats by the ancestors of terrestrial vertebrates. Using
comprehensive phylogenetic analyses of frogs and toads based on data from
over 1000 species that represent 46 out of 55 Anura families, we test
whether parental care is associated with terrestrial reproduction and
several life history traits. Here we show that both the duration of care
and offspring protection by males and females have co-evolved with
terrestrial reproduction. Sexual size dimorphism is also related to care,
since large male size relative to female size is associated with increased
paternal care. Furthermore, increased egg size and reduced clutch volume
are associated with increased care in bivariate but not in multivariate
analyses, suggesting that the relationships between care, egg size and
clutch volume are mediated by terrestrial reproduction. Taken together,
our results suggest that parenting by males and females has co-evolved,
and complex parenting traits have evolved several times independently in
Anura in response to breeding in terrestrial environments.