Postmetamorphic growth rates in a natural population of Fowler's toad, Bufo woodhousei fowleri

Abstract

A population of Fowler's toad (Bufo woodhousei fowleri) living on a golf course in New Haven, Connecticut, was studied for 3 years by the capture–mark–recapture method. Individual growth rates were determined using tibia length, which is isometric with body length, as the measure of size. Growth was rapid, with an average 6.58-fold length increase during the 1st year after metamorphosis. Males began to show secondary sexual characteristics about 1 year after metamorphosis; at this age the cohort began to overlap in body size with the older males. Females grew faster than males, but also reached a larger size, and the body sizes of the maturing female cohort began to overlap with the older females 1 month later than the males. The growth curve for length was inflected, which is predicted by von Bertalanffy's growth model.