Body Size, Age and Growth Pattern of the most represented anurans in Inselbergs of northeastern Argentina

PIÑIERO, J. M.; CAJADE, R.; MARANGONI, F.

CUADERNOS DE HERPETOLOGíA

ASOCIACIÓN HERPETOLÓGICA ARGENTINA

Lugar: San Miguel de Tucumán; Año: 2023 vol. 37 p. 171 - 188

0326-551X

ABSTRACTThe decline of biodiversity is an urgent concern that raises significant alarm today. Severalspecies vanish without their biology being understood, or sometimes, even without awarenessof their existence. Due to the significance that the Inselbergs has to biodiversity and nature, asthey have been recognized as genuine evolutionary laboratories, they present a unique opportunity to enhance our understanding of biologically unexplored species. Our study presentsthe first information regarding the body size, age and growth pattern of Scinax fuscovarius,Odontophrynus asper, and Melanophryniscus atroluteus, the three most frequently encounteredanuran species in the Inselbergs outcrops of northeastern Argentina. We have demonstratedthat the variations in body size cannot be attributed to the effect of the specific hill where thespecies inhabit. We discovered that sexual dimorphism in age and the analyzed morphologicalvariables is expressed differently in the three examined species. We also demonstrated that theobserved differences in body size between populations of M. atroluteus of Inselbergs and theAtlantic Forest of Argentina can be attributed to differences in age at sexual maturity and growthpatterns. However, we believe that other proximate mechanisms should be taken into account,such as the effects of the environment and inter- and intra-specific competition experiencedduring the larval stages, for a better understanding of the population differences in adult bodysize and age. Our findings will assist in the evaluation of species management and conservationstrategies within their habitat.