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47
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Introduction
Reproductive and trophic ecology of amphibians in western Cuba. Specially focused in rock-cave dweller frogs.
Additional affiliations
September 2017 - present
National Speleological Society, United States
Position
- member
January 2015 - present
Sociedad Cubana de Zoología
Position
- Member
August 2009 - present
Sociedad Espeleológica de Cuba
Position
- Ordinary member
Education
September 2016 - December 2021
Publications
Publications (47)
The main ecological problems affecting terrestrial mollusks are related to the destruction of their habitats. In the Viñales National Park, contributions have been made on the distribution and systematics of its malacofauna, leaving information gaps that limit adequate management for its conservation. The work was carried out during 2021, taking tw...
Diet and trophic interactions are essential for understanding aspects of the natural history of a species and evaluating its role within the ecosystem. A successful coloniser often has the ability to exploit a wide variety of prey during its establishment and may generate negative impacts due to competition with the local fauna. During both the dry...
The Cuban Flat-headed Frog ( Eleutherodactylus planirostris) occurs naturally in Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and the Bahamas, and has become widely established far beyond its native range (e.g., Kraus 2009). These frogs often are associated with human-modified habitats (see Henderson and Powell 2009 for review), but few reports document the presence...
Anurans are gape-limited predators and therefore larger individuals are capable of consuming larger prey. Stomach contents of the Cuban Giant Frog, Eleutherodactylus zeus, from caves in the northeastern-most part of the Sierra de Quemados in Viñales National Park, Pinar del Río Province, Cuba, were indicative of ontogenetic changes in diet. Althoug...
Limited information about the epiphytic bromeliads distribution in the National System of Protected Areas. Objective: To characterize the representativeness of epiphytic bromeliads in protected areas of western Cuba. Methods: Analysis of floristic lists and field reports in seven protected areas; analysis of affinities between areas and comparisons...
The first record of L. catesbeianus in the diet of Epilobocera gilmani.
Bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) is considered one of the most harmful amphibian species of the world for native amphibians. Its voracity can displace other species that live in sympatry because of competition for food or direct predation. Peltophryne fustiger (Western giant toad) is a regional endemic toad species that lives associated with wat...
En este trabajo se evalúan los conoci-mientos básicos y la actitud que poseen los estudiantes de educación secundaria sobre los anfibios, además de contribuir a la comprensión y la percepción local sobre estos. Se confeccionaron coeficientes que pudieran ser útiles para la evaluación del desempeño de profesores y alumnos. Según las respuestas al cu...
The study of frog diets in agricultural areas enables us to recognize their role in terrestrial food webs as predators of invertebrates, which can become crop pests or disease transmission vectors for humans. The present study examines the diet composition of three syntopic frog species occurring in one agroecosystem in Cuba, and their interspecifi...
Herein I report the first record of communal nesting by any Cuban anole in bromeliad
Eleutherodactylus zeus is an endemic frog of the family Eleutherodactylidae from Western mountains of Cuba, that inhabits in rocky karstic caves and tropical forest adjacent to caves. Here, we report the first approach to the diet of a Cuban cave-rock dwelling amphibian. We surveyed seven cave-karstic habitats and tropical forest habitats adjacent...
Los estudios sobre la dieta son herramientas fundamentales para la ecología y la conservación de los anfibios. En Cuba existe poco conocimiento sobre la ecología trófica de este grupo, la mayoría de los datos disponibles son reportes anecdóticos y aislados. En este trabajo se da a conocer la primera aproximación a la dieta de Eleutherodactylus atki...
Trophic ecology and morphology of Anolis bartschi (Squamata: Dactyloidae) in Parque Nacional Viñales, Cuba. Little is known about the trophic ecology of most anoles of Cuba. Morphology is directly related to ecological functions in lizards, such as feeding strategies, interspecifc competition or energetic demands linked to reproduction. Anolis bart...
Herein we document several new instances of predation on frogs of the genus Eleutherodactylus in western and central Cuba and provide a review of all predators reported for these frogs in Cuba.
The Caribbean Watersnake, Tretanorhinus variabilis (Dipsadidae) is one of two aquatic West Indian snakes. Despite being a relatively common species in Cuba and the Cayman Islands, its feeding habits have been poorly studied. Herein we report several new instances of predation by this species on fishes, frogs, and a freshwater crab. The latter repr...
The genus Tropidophis contains 32 species distributed in South America, The Bahamas, and the Greater Antilles, with a major radiation in Cuba. Tropidophis feicki is a small snake (411 mm snout-vent length in males, and 448 mm in females) endemic to forested karstic areas of western and central Cuba. It is typically a nocturnal species but in caves...
Tropidophis maculatus (Bibron, 1840) is a mesophilic snake inhabiting forest patches and open secondary scrub savannas in western and central Cuba (Schwartz & Henderson 1991; Rodríguez et al. 2013). The only dietary records for this species are the lizards Anolis angusticeps and A. alutaceus, for individuals from Havana city (Collette 1961). Herein...
Trophic interactions are very important for the
ecology of species, because the predator-prey relationship
could affect the terrestrial population densities, individual
fecundity, and can influence directly the population
dynamics. Worldwide, the euthanasia of animals for dietary
analyses is ethically questionable because alternative
methods are av...
Pigmentation anomalies may occur due to genetic or environmental factors and can affect restricted parts of the body or the entire surface. Eleutherodactylus zeus is frog endemic to western Cuba where it is adapted to life in caves, rock crevices, and other sheltered sites in limestone landscapes associated with forest habitats. We observed 43 frog...
RESUMEN. Pinar del Río posee un mosaico ecológico muy variado, 6 distritos fitogeográficos con una gran variedad de paisajes y formaciones vegetales, resaltando en ellos su alto endemismo y biodiversidad. En el trabajo se comparan los pools de especies de los tres grupos biológicos de mayor endemismo en Cuba, presentes en estos distritos y de este...
The Neotropical genus Leptodactylus is currently represented by three species in the West Indies (Leptodactylus albilabris, Leptodactylus fallax and Leptodactylus validus). Based on morphological, acoustic and molecular evidence, we document the presence of a fourth species in the Caribbean region, Leptodactylus fragilis (Brocchi, 1877). The specie...
The Neotropical genus Leptodactylus is currently represented by three species in the West Indies (Leptodactylus albilabris, Leptodactylus fallax and Leptodactylus validus). Based on morphological, acoustic and molecular evidence, we document the presence of a fourth species in the Caribbean region, Leptodactylus fragilis (Brocchi, 1877). The specie...
Wasmannia auropunctata es una hormiga plaga cuya invasión es considerada significativa en una amplia gama de países, llegando a ser considerada una plaga agrícola en países de la región tropical, razón por lo que ha sido reportada como una de las cinco especies de hormigas incluidas en la lista de las 100 peores especies invasoras. Partiendo de un...
Las listas de especies constituyen la línea base para los estudios biológicos en cualquier área. Pinar del Río es la provincia de mayor superficie en áreas protegidas, con un 22 %. La diversidad herpetológica cubana comprende aproximadamente 225 especies donde el 20,2% son endémicos de la región más occidental. La Reserva Ecológica “Los Pretiles” u...
The invertebrate fauna diversity constitutes one of the biological components fewer studied until the present in the National Parks Viñales and Guanahacabibes; likewise their imbrication in functional aspects of the ecosystem, reasons to decides focalize a study of the same species associated to tank epiphytes bromeliad, work address that prioritiz...
La presente obra ofrece un compendio de métodos para el inventario y el monitoreo de diferentes grupos de la biota terrestre en Cuba. Realizada con la colaboración de 71 especialistas, fue escrita fundamentalmente para estudiantes, biólogos de campo, profesionales y técnicos de la conservación, que desarrollen trabajos relacionados con las ciencias...
Many agents can cause malformation in frogs: UV-B radiation, retinoid exposure, pesticide contamination, predation, and trematode infection. The malformations typically involve the limbs: missing limbs and parts of limbs, extra limbs, and skin webbings. Osteopilus septentrionalis is a native Cuban species, and has been introduced in other West Indi...
The Cuban archipelago hosts at least thirteen endemic species of the genus Eleutherodactylus that live in association with rocks, caves, or limestone landscapes. However, the reproductive biology of Cuban rock-cave dwelling frogs has received little attention. In this contribution, we offer the first report of oviposition, clutch size, nest site lo...
al. " Diversidad florística en playas de la región Archipiélagos… 2015 89 Diversidad florística en playas de la región Archipiélagos del Sur de Cuba. Floristic diversity in beaches of the region South Cuban Archipelagoes.
RESUMEN Las descripciones taxonómicas requieren de manera ineludible la compara-ción de los ejemplares de las nuevas especies con el material tipo de táxones afines depositados en colecciones zoológicas. En la presente comunicación se presenta el hallazgo de un ejemplar de talla extrema de Peltaphryne fusti-ger, a partir de una hembra adulta recole...
The herpetological fauna associated to three species of tank bromeliads was studied in a semideciduous dry forest on naked karst in the Guanahacabibes National Park, Cuba. We selected 20 adult plants of each one of the bromeliad species (Tillandsia utriculata, T. fasciculata, Hohenbergia penduliflora). We determined the tree species and height wher...
RESUMEN: Se estudió la herpetofauna asociada a tres especies de bromelias de tanque en un bosque seco semideciduo sobre carso desnudo en el Parque Nacional Guanahacabibes, Cuba. Se seleccionaron 20 plantas adultas de cada una de las especies de bromelias (Tillandsia utriculata, T. fasciculata, Hohenbergia penduliflora). Determinamos las especies y...
40 Aproximación al estado actual de la población de Rhopalurus junceus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) en la localidad El Pitirre, municipio Los Palacios, Pinar del Río, Cuba. Approach to the current state of Rhopalurus junceus (Scorpiones: Buthidae) population in El Pitirre locality, Los Palacios municipality, Pinar del Río, Cuba.
