Interspecific size- and sex-related variation in the cranium of European brown frogs (Genus Rana)

Račković, Jelena Krstičić; Kolarov, Nataša Tomašević; Labus, Nenad; Vukov, Tanja

doi:10.1007/s00435-019-00441-9

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 77 publications

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“…According to our results, females in both species have larger skulls than males on both dorsal and ventral sides (Table 1). Evolutionary processes such as sexual and natural selection are playing an active role on the morphological variability of males and females (Fairbairn, 1997;Hendry et al, 2014;Krstičić Račković et al, 2019). The difference between sexes, therefore, might be assumed a consequence of interactions of each sex with environment and between sexes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interspecific and intraspecific size and shape variation in skull of two closely related species Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) and Bufo verrucosissimus (Pallas, 1814) from Turkey

Üzüm¹,

Özdemır²,

Dursun³

et al. 2021

Turk J Zool

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Anurans are the most suitable vertebrate group to see the development and also evolution in the skull, compared to other terrestrial vertebrates as they show highly derived morphology. For this reason, the cranium of anurans has been widely used for analyzing e.g., development and integration, evolutionary history, phylogenetic relationships, sexual dimorphism; and for taxon determination. We applied geometric morphometric techniques and then multivariate statistical analyses to see the skull size and shape variations in closely related Bufo species (B. bufo and B. verrucosissimus) inhabiting Turkey. Females have larger skull than males for both species. Ventral skull size of males differed between species and within species (among populations) whereas dorsal skulls differed only among populations. In females, only size of ventral skull side differs only among populations. Dorsal skull shape differs between the species in male individuals, while in females both dorsal and ventral skulls show a significant variation among populations. Bufo bufo had larger squamousal than B. verrucosissimus, whereas B. verrucosissimus had longer maxilla but shorter occipital region than B. bufo for both males and females. Under the control of size, the shape of skull does not differ between species for both males and females. Due to structural and functional constraints because of having similar biological and physical properties of skeletal and muscle tissues, living in similar environments or shared evolutionary history, the size and shape of skulls are found to be similar between B. bufo and B. verrucosissimus in present study. However, in order to better reveal the skull variations between these two closely related species, more detailed studies with more samples on their morphology and ecology are required.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interspecific and intraspecific size and shape variation in skull of two closely related species Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) and Bufo verrucosissimus (Pallas, 1814) from Turkey

Üzüm¹,

Özdemır²,

Dursun³

et al. 2021

Turk J Zool

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The ventral cranial size and shape variation between males and females of European brown frogs: Rana dalmatina, R. graeca and R. temporaria (Anura, Amphibia)

Krstičić-Račković¹,

Kolarov²,

Vukov³

2019

Univ thought Publ nat sci

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Sexual size and shape dimorphism is a very common phenomenon widely studied in the field of evolutionary biology. The differences between sexes are related to their life strategies and driven by the two evolutionary processes, sexual and natural selection. In amphibians, females are larger sex due to high correlation with fecundity, while dimorphism in body shape is often related to intrasexual competition for opposite sex during the breeding season. The main aim of this study is to describe patterns of ventral cranial size and shape variation between males and females of three species of European brown frogs, Rana dalmatina, R. graeca, R. temporaria, from the Balkan Peninsula. Our results showed that species R. dalmatina and R. graeca are sexually dimorphic for the ventral cranial size while species R. graeca and R. temporaria for the ventral cranial shape. Sexual dimorphism in cranial size is most probably an indirect consequence of natural selection favoring larger body for higher fecundity in explosive breeders like brown frogs. Cranial shape variation is under a strong influence of size variation but without allometric scaling between sexes. Sexual shape differences of analyzed brown frog species were most pronounced in the level of connection between cranium and jaw which indicate that differential diet of males and females can be a factor affecting observed sexual dimorphism patterns. More detailed studies of males and females microhabitats are necessary to conclude if differences in intersexual ecology affect intersexual size and shape differences in the cranium.

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Interspecific size- and sex-related variation in the cranium of European brown frogs (Genus Rana)

Cited by 2 publications

References 77 publications

Interspecific and intraspecific size and shape variation in skull of two closely related species Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) and Bufo verrucosissimus (Pallas, 1814) from Turkey

Interspecific and intraspecific size and shape variation in skull of two closely related species Bufo bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) and Bufo verrucosissimus (Pallas, 1814) from Turkey

The ventral cranial size and shape variation between males and females of European brown frogs: Rana dalmatina, R. graeca and R. temporaria (Anura, Amphibia)

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