Lipid reserves and body composition in postreproductive anurans.
1. The mass of lipid extracted from 13 species of adult anurans collected immediately after reproduction differed between sexes. 2. Covariance analyses of lipid mass with body mass as the covariate indicated that females had significantly more lipid than males; the proportion of lipid as a percentage of body mass was correlated significantly with water content of males, but was not correlated significantly in females. 3. Heat of combustion of extracted lipid increased among species in relation to the timing of reproduction; species that bred later in the year had a greater energy content per gram of lipid. 4. Major changes in composition during growth and metamorphosis of bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana), include increases in lipid and energy content per gram of tissue interrupted by a severe decline of lipid reserve during metamorphosis.
Virginia Commonwealth University, Department of Biology, Richmond 23284-2012.
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D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D001823:Body Composition; D005260:Female; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008297:Male; D008675:Metamorphosis, Biological; D012098:Reproduction; D013045:Species Specificity