Age and body size of Rana amurensis from northeastern China

• Main Author: Age structure, Body size; life history; Rana amurensis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2011-12-01
• Series: Current Zoology
• Subjects: Age structure; Body size; life history; Rana amurensis
• Online Access: http://www.currentzoology.org/paperdetail.asp?id=11957

Age and body size are two important demographic traits that determine the life history strategies of populations and species. We measured these two parameters of Rana amurensis, at a 900 m and a 500 m altitude site in northeastern China. At the two sites, age at first reproduction was 2 years for males and 3 years for females. The maximum age of males and females at the high-altitude site was 6 and 7 years, and 5 and 7 years at the low-altitude population, respectively. Females were significantly larger than males in both populations, due to greater age in both the high- and low-altitude sites. Body size of either males or females did not differ significantly between populations; only males showed increased body size at the high-altitude site when age effect was statistically controlled for. The increased cline of male body size may be attributable to delayed maturation of the sex due to a shorter growing season at high altitudes [Current Zoology 57 (6): 781–784, 2011].