A Study on Age Determination and Life Cycle of Pelophylax ridibundus (Pallas, 1771) by Skeletochronology Method

In this study, age determination of male and female adult Pelophylax ridibundus individuals captured from around the Gölbaşı Lake. Tailless frogs of age was defined by the skeletal chronology method. The fourth toes of the hind legs were used in this method. Age was determined counted on the Resting Lines (RL) of the phalanges. The mean ages of frogs were female 3.72 ± 0.97 years (range 2-7) and male 3.77±0.87 years (range 3-6) respectively. There was no significant difference between the ages of female and male frogs (P>0.05). The mean weights of female and male frogs were found to be 62.9±18.57 g and 42.77±10.74 g, respectively. This difference among the weights was significant (P<0.05). The mean snout- vent length (SVL) value was measured as 74.71±11.91 mm for females and 71.7±7.25 mm for males. There was no significant difference in SVL among both sexes (P>0.05). In addition, it was defined a significant correlation among the SVL of female (r=0.889, P<0.01, N=36) and male frogs (r=0.833, P<0.01, N=18) age. As a result of the study, it was seen that the frogs have a young population structure.