Age and growth in an anuran hybrid zone: Fitness-related traits of the diploid/polyploid ground frog complex (genus Odontophrynus) from central Argentina

OTERO, MANUEL ALEJANDRO; GRENAT, PABLO RAÚL; BIONDA, CLARISA LOURDES; BARAQUET, MARIANA; POLLO, FAVIO EZEQUIEL; SALAS, NANCY EDITH; MARTINO, ADOLFO LUDOVICO

ZOOLOGISCHER ANZEIGER

ELSEVIER GMBH

Año: 2021 vol. 293 p. 257 - 262

0044-5231

DiploidO. cordobae and tetraploid O. americanus coexist in syntopy incentral Argentina, and recently a hybrid zone between them with numeroustriploid individuals has been reported. Furthermore, hybrid polyploids with oddnumbers of chromosome sets often exhibit low viability and fertility. Our aimwas to test differences in age-related life history aspects influencing fitnessin hybrids and their parental species, by comparing demographic andgrowth-related parameters. The mean age and snout-vent length at sexual maturityand adulthood did not differ significantly among taxa. Longevity and potentialreproductive lifespan were one year higher in O. cordobae than O.americanus and hybrids. We did not find significant differences in growthparameters among taxa. Our study shows similar patterns of size anddemographics parameters. Triploid hybrids have a similar longevity andviability to parental species. The age structure of triploids indicates thatthe hybridization process has a temporal continuity. The lack of observeddifferences among taxa in age-related life-history aspects indicates that hybrid fitness does not seem todiffer from that of the parental species, and reinforce the idea of a potentialfertility of hybrids. Besides, our results suggests that hybrids do not direct theirresources more to growth than to reproduction, as would be expected if theywere infertile. However, further studies are necessary to determine thereproductive capacity of the hybrids