Study of the Lewant water Frog (Pelophylax bedriagae) Camerano, 1882 populations in the northern habitats of Khuzestan Province with an emphasis on morphological, morphometric, reproductive and histological characteristics

Amphibians were the most primordial vertebrates and the first vertebrates which came to live in land. Pelophylax bedriagae, clades that include north western and southwestern populations forms a monophyletic group along with samples from Turkey. The present study was conducted in northern parts of Khuzestan Province with the aim of evaluating the characteristics of morphology, morphometry, reproductive characteristics and skin texture study. For this purpose, 50 frog samples were collected from northern parts of Khuzestan province during the spring and autumn, and were transported to the laboratory. After specification, morphological traits and morphometric characteristics were investigated. According to the results of morphology, 3 types of pouring were identified among the samples and according to the gender independentness test, polymorphic traits and gender traits were independent. Moreover, 10 traits were evaluated for each morphometric sample. The results of T-test between male and female showed that there was a significant difference in all traits, except for hip length and arm length. As for the results of the T2 Hotelling test suggests sexual dimorphism between males and females. However, the results of multivariate analysis of variance showed the segregation of the population in male gender and the non-separation of the population in the female sex. In reproductive reproductive performance, the highest breeding power for both sexes was observed in spring. Examinations on the structure of the skin in the two regions of the back and abdomen indicated although there were epidermis and dermal surfaces in both areas, collagen fibers were thinner on the abdominal surface than the back surface.