Skeletochronological Age Determination and Comparative Demographic Analysis of Two Populations of the Gold-spotted Pond Frog (Rana chosenica)

Abstract

To obtain demographic information on threatened gold-spotted pond frog (Rana chosenica Okada, 1931) populations, we determined the ages of 45 male and 13 female frogs (20 males and 9 females from Cheongwon and 25 males and 4 females from Tae-an) and compared the age structures and growth patterns of the two populations in 2006. The snout-vent length (SVL) and body weight of female frogs were greater than those of male frogs in both populations. Male frogs` ages ranged 2 to 7 years old and females` ages ranged 3 to 6 years old. In both populations, 4 years old male frogs were the most abundant age-sex class. The age structures of the two populations were significantly different and the growth coefficients of male frogs from the Cheongwon population were greater than those from the Tae-an population. The mean age of males from the Tae-an population was higher than that from the Cheongwon population. However, the SVL and body weights of male frogs were not different between two populations and there was no difference between the two populations in the mean male SVL at any age. The results could increase our understanding of the life-history of this threatened frog and may be useful in conservation planning.