Water loss, cutaneous resistance, and effects of dehydration on locomotion of Eleutherodactylus frogs

Abstract

Water loss, cutaneous resistance, and the effects of dehydration on jumping ability were measured in two neotropical frogs, the common coquí (Eleutherodactylus coqui) and the cave coquí (Eleutherodactylus cooki). In both species jumping performance declined with an increase in water loss and a greater duration of exposure to dehydrating conditions. The arboreal species, E. coqui, had a slightly higher rate of water loss and lower cutaneous resistance than the non-arboreal species, E. cooki. However, differences in cutaneous resistance and water loss were too small to explain differences in geographic distributions of these species. In both species, a decline in boundary layer resistance contributed to an increased rate of water loss at higher temperature.