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 differe..., We collected seven foam nests of Leptodactylus lithonaetes in the rocky pools of the Bojonawi Nature Reserve (Puerto Carreño, Colombia). Two weeks after the first eggs were hatched, we placed ten tadpoles per clutch (Gosner stage between 25 and 30, Gosner, 1960) in 1.5 L containers. Each container was assigned to one of three experimental water level treatments: 1) high and constant water level, in which the water volume was always kept at 1 L; 2) low and constant water level, in which the water volume was always kept at 0.3 L, and 3) drying water treatment, in which the water volume was kept at 1 L for seven days, then lowered to 0.5 L, and seven days later lowered again to 0.3 L, then kept at that volume until the end of the experiment. The experiment lasted 21 days. Afterward, we weighed all tadpoles after gently blotting them dry to remove excess water. To determine Gosner's developmental stage (Gosner, 1960) and to take morphometric measurements, we also placed each tadpole in a ph..., , # Data from: Developmental plasticity to desiccation risk in tadpoles of a tropical inselberg specialist This README file was generated on 14-04-2024 by Alexandra Delgadillo Méndez\ \ These data were collected from tadpoles of the species *Leptodactylus lithonaetes* exposed experimentally to three treatments of water level: High water level, drying water level, and low water level. After 21 days of exposition to the treatments, we took size measurements per each tadpole and performed locomotor performance trials. The database presented here contains the variables measured. **GENERAL INFORMATION** 1\. Title of the dataset: Data for: DEVELOPMENTAL PLASTICITY TO DESICCATION RISK IN TADPOLES OF A TROPICAL INSELBERG SPECIALIST 2\. Author information: Principal Investigator - Corresponding author Name: Alexandra Delgadillo Méndez Institution: Universidad de Los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia) and Estación Biológica Doñana (Sevilla, España). E-mail: [[e-mail]](mailto:ad..., ,