DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1zcrjdfq7
title: Eye size and investment in frogs and toads correlate with adult habitat, activity pattern and breeding ecology

description: Frogs and toads (Amphibia: Anura) display diverse ecologies and
 behaviours, which are often correlated with visual capacity in other
 vertebrates. Additionally, anurans exhibit a broad range of relative eye
 sizes, which have not previously been linked to ecological factors in this
 group. We measured relative investment in eye size and corneal size for
 220 species of anurans representing all 55 currently recognized families
 and tested whether they were correlated with six natural history traits
 hypothesized to be associated with the evolution of eye size. Anuran eye
 size was significantly correlated with habitat, with notable decreases in
 eye investment among fossorial, subfossorial and aquatic species. Relative
 eye size was also associated with mating habitat and activity pattern.
 Compared to other vertebrates, anurans have relatively large eyes for
 their body size, indicating that vision is probably of high importance.
 Our study reveals the role that ecology and behaviour may have played in
 the evolution of anuran visual systems and highlights the usefulness of
 museum specimens, and importance of broad taxonomic sampling, for
 interpreting macroecological patterns.
description: Here we include three anuran datasets and one vertebrate dataset
 in support of the above work investigating eye-body allometry and relative
 eye size across anurans: 1) a set of morphological data gathered from
 preserved anuran museum specimens, 2) a set of morphological data
 collected from fresh anuran specimens, 3) a set of ecological traits and
 source references for the anuran species in our study, and 4) a set of
 morphological data compiled from published work on vertebrate eye size.
 The latter two datasets were supported by published materials, and
 references for each are posted in an associated pdf file. 
 Details on the collection of these data can be found in the
 associated manuscript (DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1393), and all code for
 analyzing these datasets and producing figures from the manuscript is
 available on GitHub: https://github.com/knthomas/anuran-eye-size. Explanations of each data file follow.
description: <b>Thomas_museum_specimens.csv</b>
 This file includes taxonomic and morphological data for 640
 museum specimens of frogs and toads (anurans). Measurements were made by
 Kate Thomas and David Gower and taxonomic identifications were confirmed
 by Jeffrey Streicher. Below is a guide to columns; in all columns, “NA”
 indicates a blank cell/no data. Order: Taxonomic order
 according to Frost (2020); this dataset is all anurans
 Suborder: Taxonomic suborder according to Feng et al.
 (2017<em>a</em>) Family: Taxonomic family
 according to Frost (2020) Subfamily: Taxonomic
 subfamily according to Frost (2020) Genus: Taxonomic
 genus according to Frost (2020) Species: Taxonomic
 species according to Frost (2020) genus_species:
 Binomial generated from the previous two columns (Genus_Species)
 Feng_tiplabel: Phylogeny tip label name for matching species data
 exactly to the Feng et al. (2017<i>b</i>) phylogeny
 mod_tiplabel: Phylogeny tip label names for matching species data
 to exact matches and to close relatives (see associated manuscript for
 details) in the Feng et al. (2017<i>b</i>) phylogeny
 Museum: Collection housing each specimen measured here. NHM = the
 Natural History Museum (London, UK); NCSM = North Carolina Museum of
 Natural Sciences (Raleigh, NC, USA); BNHS = the Bombay Natural History
 Society (Mumbai, India). SpecimenNumber = Catalog
 identification number for each specimen Sex = Sex of
 specimen, if identified Stage = Life stage of specimen;
 this dataset includes only adult anurans SVL_mm =
 Snout-vent length of specimen in mm Mass_g = Wet mass
 of specimen in g ED_right_mm = Transverse right eye
 diameter of specimen in mm ED_left_mm = Transverse left
 eye diameter of specimen in mm CD_right_mm = Transverse
 right cornea diameter in mm CD_left_mm = Transverse
 left cornea diameter in mm Measured_by = Collector of
 morphological measurements (4 specimens of <i>Nasikabatrachus
 sahyadrensis</i> measured by David Gower, all other specimens
 measured by Kate Thomas)
 <b>Thomas_fresh_specimens.csv</b>
 This file includes taxonomic and morphological data for 67 fresh
 (unpreserved) specimens of frogs and toads (anurans). Live anurans were
 obtained through fieldwork in French Guiana (permit RAA:
 R03-2018-06-12-006) and via collection in the UK or the pet trade (NHM
 license NE: WML-OR04). Measurements were made by Jeffrey Streicher, David
 Gower, and Kate Thomas. Taxonomic identifications were made by Jeffrey
 Streicher and David Gower. All specimens were preserved after eye
 dissection and added to museum collections. Note that for these specimens,
 eye measurements were taken from only one eye (left or right, not
 tracked), as the other eye was destructively sampled for other research.
 Below is a guide to columns; in all columns, “NA” indicates a blank
 cell/no data. Source: Source of live specimens and date
 of collection Field_number: Field number assigned to
 each specimen prior to museum accession Museum: Museum
 collection now housing each specimen (note that these specimens have not
 yet been given catalog numbers, but can still be traced by their field
 numbers). NHM = Natural History Museum (London, UK)
 Order: Taxonomic order according to Frost (2020); this dataset is
 all anurans Family: Taxonomic family according to Frost
 (2020) Subfamily: Taxonomic subfamily according to
 Frost (2020) Genus: Taxonomic genus according to Frost
 (2020) Species: Taxonomic species according to Frost
 (2020) Stage = Life stage of specimen; this dataset
 includes only adult anurans SVL_mm = Snout-vent length
 of specimen in mm Mass_g = Wet mass of specimen in
 g ED_mm_insitu = Transverse eye diameter measured
 externally (prior to dissection) in mm CD_mm_insitu =
 Transverse cornea diameter measured externally (prior to dissection) in
 mm ED_mm_dissected = Transverse eye diameter measured
 after removal of whole eye from specimen (in mm)
 CD_mm_dissected = Transverse corneal diameter measured after
 removal of whole eye from specimen (in mm)
 AD_mm_dissected = Axial length of eye measured after removal of
 whole eye from specimen (in mm) LD_mm_dissected =
 Maximum diameter of lens measured after dissection out of eye in mm (note
 that these data were not included in the associated study, but are
 included here in case useful to other researchers)
 <b>Thomas_species_traits.csv</b>
 This file includes ecological trait data for 220 anuran species
 and references that categorizations were based on. See associated
 manuscript for details of ecological categorizations. Full citations for
 references supporting this dataset are available in the
 "<strong>Species_traits_references.pdf</strong>"
 file; in-text citations are indicated for each trait in an associated
 reference column. All coauthors participated in the assignment of
 ecological traits. Below is a guide to columns; in all columns, “NA”
 indicates a blank cell/no information found.  Order:
 Taxonomic order according to Frost (2020); this dataset is all
 anurans Family: Taxonomic family according to Frost
 (2020) Subfamily: Taxonomic subfamily according to
 Frost (2020) Genus: Taxonomic genus according to Frost
 (2020) Species: Taxonomic species according to Frost
 (2020) Feng_tiplabel: tip label name for matching
 species data exactly to the Feng et al. (2017<i>b</i>)
 phylogeny Common_name: One or more common names linked
 to each species (not comprehensive) Adult_habitat:
 Habitat where adult activity primarily occurs (semiaquatic, aquatic,
 scansorial, ground-dwelling, subfossorial, or fossorial)
 AH_source: Reference for adult habitat
 Activity_period: Period when adult activity primarily occurs
 (diurnal, nocturnal, or both) AP_source: Reference for
 activity period Mating_habitat: Habitat where mating
 behaviors primarily occur (lotic water, lentic water, plants, or
 ground) MH_source: Reference for mating
 habitat Life_history: Presence or absence of a
 free-living larval stage (free-living larvae or no free-living
 larvae) LH_source: Reference for life history
 Larval_habitat: Habitat where larvae are primarily active (no
 larvae, lotic water, lentic water, on land, or obscured)
 LHab_source: Reference for larval habitat
 Sex_dichromatism: Whether males and females exhibit differences
 in colors or patterns (present or absent) SD_source:
 Reference for sexual dichromatism
 <b>Thomas_vertebrates.csv</b> This
 file includes data on eye size and body size from 1285 species or
 specimens complied from 9 published studies (Howland et al. 2004; Werner
 and Seifan 2006; Lisney and Collin 2007; Hall 2008; Hall and Heesy 2011;
 Schmitz and Wainwright 2011; Liu et al. 2012; Schmitz et al. 2013;
 Veilleux and Kirk 2014). These data were then matched to phylogenies
 retrieved from VertLife.org (mammals: Upham et al. 2019; birds: Jetz et
 al. 2012; squamates: Tonini et al. 2016; sharks: Stein et al. 2018) and
 TimeTree.org (fishes: Kumar et al. 2017) (see our associated manuscript
 for details), and this dataset includes columns for name matching between
 morphological datasets and phylogenies. Full citations for both data and
 phylogenies are listed
 in "<strong>Vertebrates_references.pdf</strong>".
 Please see our associated manuscript for full details. Below is a guide to
 columns; in all columns, “NA” indicates a lack of data.
 Dataset_name: Genus and species names as in original datasets
 extracted from published papers Common_name: Common
 name from original datasets extracted from published papers (if included
 originally) Group: Broad clade descriptions of
 vertebrates included in analyses (birds, fishes, mammals, reptiles,
 sharks/rays) along with more specific high-level taxonomic ranks
 Subgroup: Common names for the taxonomic rank divisions we
 grouped by in analyses given the distribution of taxa we had available
 (ranks are not the same among clades) Subclade:
 Taxonomic names for the taxonomic rank divisions we grouped by in analyses
 given the distribution of taxa we had available (ranks are not the same
 among clades) Body_mass_kg: Body mass in kg. If
 original dataset was in a different unit of mass, it has been converted to
 kg here. Axial_diameter_mm: Axial length of the eye in
 mm SVL_mm: Snout-vent length in mm (applies only to
 reptiles and amphibians) Trans_diameter_mm: Transverse
 diameter of the eye in mm Cornea_diameter_mm:
 Transverse diameter of the cornea in mm Reference:
 Citation for source of morphological data (see full citations in
 "Vertebrates_references.pdf") VertLife_name:
 Phylogeny tip labels from VertLife trees that match each species from the
 morphology dataset (if names are different, this is due to species
 synonyms or changes in taxonomy). See full citations for phylogeny sources
 in "Vertebrates_references.pdf"
 VertLife_basetree: Phylogeny from VertLife that applies to each
 row of the dataset (matches tree names on VertLife)
 TimeTree_tiplabel: Phylogeny tip labels from TimeTree (used only
 for Actinopterygii) that match each species from the morphology dataset
 (if names are different, this is due to species synonyms or changes in
 taxonomy). “NA” indicates that the morphology dataset species was not
 available in a TimeTree phylogeny. For full reference for TimeTree, see
 "Vertebrates_references.pdf"
 TimeTree_genus_sub: Tip labels from TimeTree (used only for
 Actinopterygii) that match each species from the morphology dataset at the
 genus level (but not the species level). These genus-level substitutions
 were used to approximate the phylogenetic position of species that were
 not available as direct matches in the phylogeny for analyses.