Both sexes pay a cost of reproduction in a frog with biparental care

The assumption that reproduction is costly is central to life‐history theory. Good evidence supporting this premise comes from studies, mostly in short‐lived invertebrates, demonstrating a negative relationship between reproduction and longevity. Whether this trade‐off operates broadly, for example in males and females and in short‐ and long‐lived organisms, remains unresolved. We found a negative relationship between reproduction and days survived in captive, wild‐caught, individuals of a long‐lived poison frog with biparental care (Oophaga pumilio). The proportion of time that individuals spent paired and tadpole production rate were negatively associated with days survived in both sexes, and clutch production was negatively associated with days survived in females. These results broaden the taxonomic base upon which this tenet of life‐history theory is built, empirically confirm that females of this species should be choosy when selecting mates and caring for offspring, and suggest that the costs of ‘limited’ male care in this species deserve re‐evaluation. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 115 , 211–218.