Effects of long-term preservation on amphibian body conditions: implications for historical morphological research.

ABSTRACT: Measurements of historical specimens are widely applied in studies of taxonomy, systematics, and ecology, but biologists often assume that the effects of preservative chemicals on the morphology of amphibian specimens are minimal in their analyses. We compared the body length and body mass of 182 samples of 13 live and preserved (up to 10 years) anuran species and found that the body length and body mass of preserved specimens significantly decreased by 6.1% and 24.8%, respectively, compared to those measurements of their live counterparts. The changes in body length and mass also exhibited highly significant variations between species. Similarly, there were significant differences in shrinkage of body length and body mass between sexes, where males showed greater shrinkage in body length

SUBMITTER: Shu G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5602676 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature