The “anomaly P” was described in Palearctic water frogs of the genus Pelophylax by Jean Rostand as complex morphological anomalies of water frogs, including polydactyly, brachymely, hind limb oedema, bone outgrowths, spikes, flexions and additional limbs in the inguinal region. In 2016, the anomaly P syndrome was rediscovered in central Russia, confirming the hypothesis concerning its wider distribution. Here, three new records of this syndrome in two species of western Palearctic water frog from Russia are described.

The study of the composition of fatty acid markers of tadpoles of cohabiting amphibian species for the first time revealed differences in their diets: the moor frog Rana arvalis prefers bacteria not associated with plant detritus, whereas the diet of the common spadefoot Pelobates fuscus is based on cyanobacteria, green algae, diatoms, and possibly higher plants. Major differences in the fatty acid composition are determined by the difference in the percentage of eicosapentaenoic and myristic acids.

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