Current Zoology (Dec 2011)
Age and body size of Rana amurensis from northeastern China
Abstract
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].
