Twelve polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated from an (AC)n- and (AG)n-enriched DNA library for the endemic Chinese frog Pelophylax hubeiensis (Ranidae). The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to eight, with a mean of 5.17. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.226 to 0.839 and from 0.204 to 0.826, with means of 0.568 and 0.656, respectively. No significant li...

There are now overlapping codes of nomenclature that govern some of the same names of biological taxa. The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) uses the non-evolutionary concept of a "type species" to fix the names of animal taxa to particular ranks in the nomenclatural hierarchy. The PhyloCode, in contrast, uses phylogenetic definitions for supraspecific taxa at any hierarchica...

Antimicrobial peptides are expressed in the skin of amphibians and are used to prevent infection by microorganisms. Frog species store distinct collections of antimicrobial peptides that show variation in size, charge, conformation, and bactericidal activity, and so the evolution of antimicrobial peptide gene families may reflect the adaptive diversification of these loci. We examined the molec...

The morphology of the toe epithelium of the rock frog, Staurois parvus (Family Ranidae), was investigated using a variety of microscopical techniques. The toe pad epithelium is stratified (four to five cell layers), the apical parts of the cells of the outermost layer being separated by fluid-filled channels. The surface of these cells is covered by a dense array of nanopillars, which also cove...

The Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris) has a widespread distribution in western Canada and the western US, although the southern reach of its range is highly fragmented into several isolated populations. Threats from various factors have raised concerns regarding the long-term survival of many small, isolated populations. Here, we report a study designed to determine the phylogeographic ...

In this study, we determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial (mt) DNA of the paddy frog Fejervarya multistriata. mtDNA is 17,750-bp long and contains 13 protein-coding regions, 2 ribosomal RNA, non-coding genes, and 23 tRNA because of the presence of an extra copy of tRNA-Met. The gene arrangements among two related species of Fejervarya were compared, and the combined mtD...

Abstract Many amphibian species possess male-specific secretory breeding glands. In anurans, such specialized glands are often present as nuptial pads at the first digit of hand, which pressed against female during amplexus. However, role pad secretions remains largely unknown. Here, we investigate inner morphology well RNA expression patterns several Central American Lithobates (Ranidae). As s...