Body size, age and growth in males populations of Boana pulchella (Anura, Hylidae)

POLLO, FAVIO E.; SALAS, NANCY E.; OTERO, MANUEL A.; MARTINO, ADOLFO L.; BARAQUET, MARIANA; GRENAT, PABLO R.

ANAIS DA ACADEMIA BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIAS.

ACAD BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIAS

Lugar: Rio de Janeiro; Año: 2021 vol. 93

0001-3765

Agedetermination in amphibians is crucial to the investigation of life-historytraits. In this context, we studied, for the first time, the life-historytraits of Boana pulchella from a sample (63 adult males) of three populations(Las Acequias, Río Cuarto, Alejandro Roca) in central Argentina using theskeletochronological method. All adults of B. pulchella studied showedrecognizable bone structures that allowed age determination. The average snout-ventlength of sexually mature males was 43.39 mm. The maximum observed longevitywas 5 years (5 Las Acequias, 4 Río Cuarto, 3 Alejandro Roca) and minimum age atsexual maturity was 2 year (same in the three populations), with mean of 2.96years. Body size and age were positively correlated (except in Alejandro Rocapopulations). The growth patterns, estimated by the von Bertalanffy growthequation, do not show differences between populations, and the growth ratedecrease after the attainment of sexual maturity. In conclusion, thedetermination of the individual age of the different populations of B. pulchellaallowed us for the first time to establish the characteristics of the lifehistory of the species, important for future comparisons whit otherspopulations and future conservation biology studies.