Ageing and Growth of the Endangered Kaiser's Mountain Newt, Neurergus kaiseri (Caudata: Salamandridae), in the Southern Zagros Range, Iran
The development of appropriate management and recovery plans requires a better understanding of the demography of endangered amphibians. In this study longevity, age at maturation, age structure, growth rates, and growth patterns of a local population of the endangered Kaiser's Mountain Newt, Neurergus kaiseri, in southwestern Iran were studied using skeletochronology. To estimate the age of individuals, numbers of lines of arrested growth was used in the periosteal bone obtained from cross-sections of 73 live newt toes. The maximum observed longevity was 14 yr in males and 12 yr in females. Mean ± SE longevity recorded for males (6.81 ± 0.58 yr) and females (7.74 ± 0.34 yr) was not significantly different (P = 0.14, t-test, n = 73). The minimum age at sexual maturity in both sexes was 4 yr. Mean ± SE snout–vent length (SVL) in females (63.31 ± 4.58 mm) was higher than in males (54.68 ± 3.74 mm) (P = 0.007, t-test, n = 73). The growth curve for SVL was best described by the von Bertalanffy model compared with Gompertz and logistic growth models (on the basis of Akaike information criterion and coefficient of determination).Abstract
Geographic position of Bozorgab stream in the southern Zagros Range, Iran.
Bozorgab Stream contains a substantial number of Neurergus kaiseri. (Photo by Hossein Farasat).
Phalange bone cross-section of an 11-yr-old female Neurergus kaiseri, from Bozorgab Stream. Arrows = lines of arrested growth, endosteal bone, and periosteal bone.
Age class distribution of adult males and females of Neurergus kaiseri.
Growth curves in male (solid squares) and female (solid circles) Kaiser's Mountain Newt, Neurergus kaiseri, in the southern Zagros Mountains, Iran. Growth curves were fitted to von Bertalanffy's growth equation.
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