Pattern of growth in a temperate zone anuran (Bufo viridis Laur.)

Abstract

Growth in body length and mass was followed in 1-year-old toads Bufo viridis collected early August, kept in the laboratory at 20°C, and fed meal worms ad libitum for 24 h once or twice a week. The nutritional condition of the toads was evaluated from the condition index (GI) = 1,000 x body mass (g) x length (~m ) -~. The rates of growth in length were high initially, in August and September, and then dropped to insignificant levels. Growth was abruptly resumed in spring, and growth rates were high in March to May. The CI increased to a maximum in September. During the period of growth stagnation it tended to decrease. After growth was resumed in spring, the GI again increased, but with a delay. During autumn the toads allocated 0 1983 ALAN R. LISS, INC.

Do Bufonids Employ Different Anti-Predator Behaviors Than Ranids? Comparison among Three European Anurans

“…So far, more than 30 categories of defensive behaviors to predator attack have been described in anurans, primarily from field studies of Neotropical species (Jared et al, 2009;Toledo et al, 2011). Many aspects of temperate-zone anuran ecology have also been investigated (Jørgensen, 1983(Jørgensen, , 1986Blaustein et al, 2001;Engeler and Reyer, 2001;Johansson et al, 2005;Sinsch and Schäfer, 2016;Cayuela et al, 2017;Kuczynski et al, 2017), but predator-anuran prey interactions are poorly understood. For instance, the behavioral response repertoire of European anurans is yet to be fully described (Marchisin and Anderson, 1978;Grant, 2001;Nishiumi and Mori, 2015).…”