Effect of Habitat Drying on Age and Size at Metamorphosis in Indian Painted Frog, Uperodon taprobanicus (Anura: Microhylidae) Author Mogali, Santosh M. Author Shanbhag, Bhagyashri A. Author Saidapur, Srinivas K. text Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 2025 2025-05-20 77 2 243 248 https://doi.org/10.71424/azb77.2.002788 journal article 10.71424/azb77.2.002788 2603-3798 16652514

Table 1. Snout-vent length (SVL), body mass of metamorphs, days required to reach metamorphic climax stage (Gosner stage 42) and length of larval duration (days, Gosner stage 46) in Uperodon taprobanicus reared in waters with different levels of desiccation. Data represent mean ± SD (minimum-maximum) and analysed by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s’ HSD post-hoc test. N = 50 tadpoles for each group (150 tadpoles in total); dissimilar superscripts (a, b, c) indicate significant difference between the groups in the same column; significance level was set to 0.05.

Rearing groups	SVL (mm)	Body mass (mg)	Days required to reach MC	Larval duration (days)
I. Constant water	10.01 ± 0.49 a (9.15-10.90)	121.54 ± 16.20a (100-149)	26.96 ± 1.29a (25-31)	29.68 ± 1.36a (27-33)
II. Gradual desiccation	8.86 ± 0.35 b (8.45-9.98)	80.78 ± 10.76b (67-113)	24.93 ± 0.94b (23-27)	27.56 ± 1.12b (25-30)
III. Rapid desiccation	7.60 ± 0.26 c (7.09-7.99)	57.32 ± 4.74c (50-65)	23.38 ± 0.96c (20-25)	25.48 ± 1.00c (22-27)
F and P values	F 2,147 = 505.364, P <0.05	F 2,147 = 394.791, P <0.05	F 2,147 = 137.852, P <0.05	F 2,147 = 160.722, P <0.05