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1 April 2009 A Comparative Study of the Extracutaneous Pigmentary System in Three Anuran Amphibian Species Evaluated During the Breeding Season
Rafaela Maria Moresco, Classius De Oliveira
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Abstract

The present investigation examined the extracutaneous pigmentation pattern of three species of anuran amphibians, Dendropsophus nanus, Physalaemus cuvieri, and Rhinella schneideri, during the course of their breeding seasons. Pigmentation intensity in the different organs was graded on a 4-category scale, in which category 0 refers to organs without pigment and category 3 refers to intensely pigmented organs, with 2 intermediate stages of progressively stronger pigmentation. Rhinella schneideri showed testicular pigmentation, with intra-specific variation (categories 0 and 1). In P. cuvieri the pigmentation in the lungs varied in time: all the animals showed pigmentation (category 1) at the beginning of the breeding season, and as the season progressed the absence of pigments became the most common pattern. In the liver of the first animals collected, the pigment intensity was high (category 2) with many iridophores present, but in the last specimens collected no iridophores were found. The variation in D. nanus occurred in the kidneys, where animals collected at the beginning of the season did not show pigmentation. Renal veins displayed few melanocytes (category 1); animals collected at the end of the season showed more pigmentation in the kidneys (category 2), whereas in the renal veins the intensity remained the same. The changes observed in the extracutaneous pigment system in some organs, during the reproductive period, may be due to physiological alterations or may represent a species-specific characteristic.

© 2009 Brazilian Society of Herpetology
Rafaela Maria Moresco and Classius De Oliveira "A Comparative Study of the Extracutaneous Pigmentary System in Three Anuran Amphibian Species Evaluated During the Breeding Season," South American Journal of Herpetology 4(1), 1-8, (1 April 2009). https://doi.org/10.2994/057.004.0101
Received: 15 October 2008; Accepted: 1 March 2009; Published: 1 April 2009
KEYWORDS
Dendropsophus nanus
Physalaemus cuvieri
Rhinella schneideri
Visceral Chromatophores
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