Deformities have been documented in many anurans, but little baseline information exists for most species. To estimate deformity levels in Wood Frogs (Rana sylvatica) in areas of relatively low disturbance, we summarized data from over 21,000 individuals examined during field studies in three distinct ecoregions of Western Canada. Deformity levels were low (<2%) in all wild populations sampled and included examples of polymelia, polyphalangy, ectromelia, and amelia. We suggest that many of the documented deformities were related to physical trauma and that dramatic deformities were recorded more often than those that were less noticeable, such as deformed digits.
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1 June 2004
Deformity Levels in Wild Populations of the Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica) in Three Ecoregions of Western Canada
Brian R. Eaton,
Sara Eaves,
Cameron Stevens,
Allison Puchniak,
Cynthia A. Paszkowski
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