Age, body size, and growth of Boana cordobae (Anura: Hylidae) along an altitudinal gradient in Argentina

BARAQUET, MARIANA; OTERO, MANUEL A.; VALETTI, JULIÁN A.; GRENAT, PABLO R.; MARTINO, ADOLFO L.

Herpetological Conservation and Biology

HCB

Año: 2018 vol. 13 p. 391 - 398

1931-7603

Life-historytraits of individual organisms (e.g., longevity, age at sexual maturity, bodysize, and growth rate) often vary among populations in different environments,including along altitudinal gradients. We investigated altitudinal variation inthe above variables for Boana cordobae using skeletochronology from 158 individualsin six populations along of an altitudinal gradient (930 to 2,310 m elevation) incentral Argentina. Body size (snout-vent length) was the only variable that differedsignificantly between sexes, with females larger than males. Males weregenerally larger and older at higher elevations females were not analyzed forpopulation differences due to small sample sizes). Specifically, body size wassignificantly positively correlated with altitude of the populations, withmales from the highest altitude population significantly larger than those atlower altitudes. Males at the highest site were also significantly older thanindividuals at lower elevation. Moreover, the oldest individual was 7 y old in thehighest population, and 4 to 6 y old in the other populations, and age atsexual maturity was estimated at 3 y in the highest population and 2 y in theother five populations.