Sexual shape dimorphism in Bufo verrucosissimus (Pallas, 1814) from Lake Borçka Karagöl, Türkiye

Abstract

Sexual dimorphism, i.e., differences in morphology between sexes of a species caused by intersexual differences in the strength or direction of sexual or natural selection, is prevalent throughout the animal kingdom. Contrary to differences in body size, little is known about sexual shape dimorphism in anurans. Here we investigated intersexual shape differences in Bufo verrucosissimus (Pallas, 1814) by taking 27 linear measurements to characterize body morphology of 23 males and 23 females. Relative to their overall body size, males had longer limbs and larger eyes, while females displayed larger parotoid glands and had wider heads. We speculate that these intersexual differences may have arisen due to differences in natural and sexual selection regimes acting on males and females, especially during foraging, mate searching, or intrasexual competition.

Sexual Dimorphism in the Limb Bones of Asiatic Toad (Bufo gargarizans) in Relation to Sexual Selection

“…Sexual size dimorphism (SSD), which refers to the difference in body size or mass between the sexes, is common in anurans, and in 90% of species females have a longer body length (i.e., snout-to-vent length (SVL)) than males [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Besides SSD, another common occurrence in anurans is sexual shape dimorphism (SShD), which pertains to differences in body shape between males and females [ 5 ]. The main mechanisms responsible for the evolution of sexual dimorphism (SD), such as sexual size dimorphism (SSD) and sexual shape dimorphism (SShD), are sexual selection and natural selection [ 6 , 7 ].…”

First detection probability, comparative analysis of ecological disparities and population dynamics of Rana pseudodalmatina (Eiselt & Schmidtler, 1971) in the Hyrcanian forests: implications for conservation planning

“…(Ochoa-Ochoa et al 2019;Walls et al 2013;Ficetola et al 2016). The results of this study also con rm the above.Sexual size dimorphism has been studied many times by researchers on different species of amphibians (e.g.Monnet et al 2002; Liao et al 2013; Rastegar-Pouyani et al 2013; Yan et al 2023;Dursun et al 2023). According to the difference in Snout-vent length (SVL) in amphibians, there are three patterns for sexual dimorphism.…”