#tepui

A team of scientists led by Philippe JR Kok (@vubrussel, @rbinsmuseum) reports in Current Biology on a very rare role reversal predation: the larva of an unknown firefly species living on the summit of the Roraima-tepui shifted its diet from soft-bodied invertebrates to a small endemic toad species supposed to be its (potential) predator. And that firefly larva stopped glowing, which seems unique in the firefly family. Firefly larvae are unpalatable and glow to deter potential predators, but what’s the point to deter a predator you want to prey upon? The victim here is a toad named Oreophrynella quelchii, which is only found on the summit of two neighbouring tepuis. Tepuis are Precambrian sandstone tabletop mountains reaching up to ca. 3,000 m in elevation and are found in northern South America. Their highest summits are isolated from the surrounding uplands savannah and lush tropical rainforest by sheer cliffs and face particularly hostile, challenging environmental conditions. These isolated tabletop mountains inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for his famous novel The Lost World, populated with dinosaurs and an ancient civilisation. Philippe Kok (ca you find him in the last picture?) is a specialist of the evolution of vertebrates in these remote areas and spent close to 300 days on tepui summits.