Abstract
Age structure and growth of the Caucasian parsley frog, Pelodytes caucasicus from Turkey was assessed using phalangeal skeletochronology. Snout-vent length (SVL) ranged from 41.48 to 52.58 mm (mean ± SD: 47.16 ± 2.87, n = 44) in males and 40.28 to 50.62 mm (mean ± SD: 45.79 ± 2.29, n = 31) in females. Ages of adults ranged from 2 to 5 years in males (mean ± SD: 3.61 ± 0.9) and from 2 to 4 years (mean ± SD: 3.03 ± 0.7) in females. For both sexes, SVL was significantly correlated with age and maturity was attained at 2 years of age. Von Bertalanffy growth curves of age vs. SVL showed a similar profile between males (asymptotic size, SVLmax: 53.42 mm; growth coefficient k = 0.42) and female (SVLmax: 52.04 mm; k = 0.38). Adult annual survivorship and adult life expectancy were 0.78 and 5.04 years, respectively, in males; 0.76 and 4.66 years, respectively, in females. Comparison with Georgian populations of P. caucasicus suggests that sexual dimorphism in size and longevity is a species characteristic.
Keywords
age structure; growth curve; skeletochronology; Pelodytes caucasicus
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