animal
Hamid Darvishnia; Amir Arsalan Kavyani Fard
Abstract
The relatively stable conditions of caves, such as humidity and minimal variation of temperature, provide a suitable place to reproduce, exploit food, and avoid extreme temperatures in some animals, including anurans, which are considered trogloxenes or accidental cave dwellers. Anurans are opportunistic ...
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The relatively stable conditions of caves, such as humidity and minimal variation of temperature, provide a suitable place to reproduce, exploit food, and avoid extreme temperatures in some animals, including anurans, which are considered trogloxenes or accidental cave dwellers. Anurans are opportunistic predators that feed upon numerous food resources that are more abundant in their environment. The diet of variable toads was investigated and compared between specimens collected inside and outside the caves. Using the stomach flushing technique, a total of 37 specimens of variable toads were flushed, and 469 food items were identified to order or family ranks. Examination of the stomach contents of toads demonstrated that the diet of two groups mainly consist of terrestrial insects. The toads outside the cave had a more variable and abundant diet than the specimens examined within the caves, with orders Hymenoptera (44.89%) and Coleoptera (30.38%) as the first and second highest rank of abundance. Coleoptera (48.45%) and Hymenoptera (13.40%) were the most abundant food items among specimens collected from the caves. Greater variety of food items of toads outside the caves compared to the toads within the caves is a reflection of invertebrate communities in both environments. The less diversity and abundance of food items in the cave habitat implies a more intense food competition in the cave's unique environment with low energy resources. The presence of different size preys among the food items also, indicates an opportunistic feeding in this toad.
