Abstract
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Highlights
Studies of anomalies in natural amphibian populations have several aims: (1) to evaluate the ‘health’ of these populations through the study of anomalies; (2) to establish the causes of the anomalies observed; and (3) to make predictions and recommendations. In such studies the aim is not: (1) to create anomalies in the laboratory that would ‘resemble’ those found in the natural populations; and (2) to study the anomalies ‘for themselves’, for embryological, morphogenetic, teratogenetic or genetic purposes
The study should concern as many localities as possible to ascertain the distribution of the anomalies studied. It should cover all amphibian species in each locality in order to ascertain the presence or absence of taxonomic specificity in the anomalies studied
Anomalies due to severe environmental aggressions or disruptions may concern several sympatric species and, depending on the factor involved, may occur in a single locality or over a larger area. This requires that we take into account all the amphibian species of a site, and those in which anomalies may have been discovered
Summary
The term ‘anomaly’ is derived from the Greek term άνομος (anomos), meaning ‘lawless, wicked’. It designates any deviation of the phenotype (morphological or nonmorphological) outside the range of variation of the phenotype considered to be ‘normal’ in a species, irrespective of its cause. This term conveys a wide variety of meanings. The term ‘anomaly’ is preferable to the preceding ones, as it has both a more general and more neutral meaning, referring just to ‘normality’, to ‘abnormal’ or ‘deviant’ specimens, without limiting this to some aspects of the phenotype or to some kinds of causes.
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