Diet of polypedates otilophus (Anura: Rhacophoridae) during wet and dry periods

• Main Author: Nurul Atiqah, Sarman
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2014
• Subjects: QL Zoology
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/32403/7/Nurul%20Atiqah%20ft.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/32403/
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

An understanding of food consumption is essential in order to evaluate the niche of any organisms. Many factors influences the diet of frogs. Weather conditions, such as wet and dry periods and also prey availability, may be correlated with insects abundance, and can potentially affect the quantity of prey items in stomach content. This study attempt to determine possible relationships between food type and quantity consume within the dry and wet periods, using the rhacophorid tree frog, Polypedates otilophus as a model at Kubah National Park. The method that was applied to extract dietary information is stomach flushing. From the stomach contents extracted, it was identified into two major categories of food, which were animal and plant material. Animal matter, presumed to comprise their diet, were catagorised into ordinal groups for arthropods. During the period of study, feeding volumes and type of consumed prey, and their change as a result of either wet or dry period were evaluated. During dry periods, P. otilophus feeds on fewer prey type and lower diversity of food compared to wet periods. Plant material in stomach samples are assumed to have been incidentally ingested.