Investigation of Changes in Morphological Characteristics in water Frogs (Pelophylax bedriagae, Camerano, 1882) in Khouzestan Province

The water frog (P. bedriagae) is considered as an important part of the food network balance in most ecosystems, it is affected by many environmental stresses and the distribution of its populations is strongly dependent on ecological factors. In this study, extensive sampling of swamp frog populations in the northern and southern parts of Khuzestan province was performed and the analysis of changes in morphological traits under the influence of geographical separation was performed. The results showed the presence of sexual morphology between morphological traits (T-test, ANOVA). In addition, the results of MANOVA and T2 Hotelling test showed demographic separation between males and the absence of demographic separation in females in the northern and southern regions. To prove such a difference, multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) was performed. According to the results of the test, the male populations were divided into two separate groups, while in the female populations only a few were scattered and the rest formed a single group. Finally, the cluster analysis of the studied populations was divided into two groups based on morphometric traits, the population of Shush region and the population of the southern regions and parts of the northern regions. According to the results, despite the two morphologies and demographic separation in males based on morphological traits, demographic separation was not fully confirmed. Thus, despite the geographical separation of the populations of the two northern and southern regions of Khuzestan province, they still show a single population in terms of morphological traits.