Feeding overlap in two sympatric species of Rhinella (Anura: Bufonidae) of the Atlantic Rain Forest

a clear understanding of the relationships between overlapping, similarity, and competition is necessary to understand many of the questions about the structure and operation of a community. rhinella icterica (spix, 1824) and rhinella crucifer (wied neuwied, 1821) are sympatric species of toads occurring in the national park of serra dos órg？os in southeastern brazil. the aim of the present study was to assess the dietary overlap of these two species. ninety-four stomachs were analyzed, and 2245 prey items were found. common prey were hymenoptera, coleoptera, diptera, lepidoptera larvae, blattaria, orthoptera, hemiptera, opiliones, and aranaea. ants were the most important prey in both diets, followed by beetles and cockroaches. the niche breadth of r. icterica was 1.76 and of r. crucifer was 1.28. the dietary overlap between the species was 98.62%. a positive correlation was observed between jaw width and prey size consumed by r. icterica.