Morphometric variation in the Tunisian green frog, Rana saharica Anura: Ranidae)

Abstract

Rana saharica is the most widely distributed anuran in Tunisia. We examined morphological variation in 124 specimens as a function of their geographical origin, using univariate and multivariate statistics with traditional morphometrics. Our results supported the existence of three morphotypes of this species, correctly classified 84.7% of specimens, and indicated significant degrees of variation in morphometric characteristics between regions. No significant differences were found between sexes among populations. We observed an increase in body size and a decrease in body mass as a function of latitude. Specimens from the southernmost region had the smallest body size and the greatest morphometric divergence. The pattern of morphometric variation probably results from phenotypic plasticity correlated with local environmental factors.

Phylogeographic patterns in North African water frog Pelophylax saharicus (Anura: Ranidae)

“…According to these authors, these two clades should be recognized as different subspecies: P. saharicus saharicus (eastern clade) and P. saharicus riodeoroi (Salvador and Peris, 1975) (western clade). Within Tunisian P. saharicus, several morphotypes were recorded, but this morphological variation probably results from phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental factors, as little genetic variability was observed within this country and it was not partitioned across morphotypes (Amor et al 2009(Amor et al , 2010aFarjallah et al 2012). The occurrence of different phenotypes within Moroccan P. saharicus has been described as well (Bons and Geniez 1996), which led some authors to suggest the existence of multiple taxa.…”

Morphometrics of two sympatric species of tree frogs in Korea: a morphological key for the critically endangeredHyla suweonensisin relation toH. japonica

“…The presumable ecological niche distinction between the two species, related to body size variations, may be investigated through their jumping abilities, an adaptation to escape predation (Emmerson 1991;Miller et al 1993;Amor et al 2009). …”

Morphometric study of Kalophrynus palmatissimus at two forest reserves in Malaysia

“…( 2014 ) suggested that factors that possibly influence the microclimates are the distribution of buildings and vegetation. It is known that morphometric differentiation of amphibians is correlated by climatic and ecological conditions (Amor et al., 2009 ) and a combination of genetic and environmental factors (Savage et al., 2015 ; Stock et al., 2008 ).…”