Larval and metamorphic skeletal development in the fast-developing frog Pyxicephalus adspersus (Anura, Ranidae)

Pyxicephalus adspersus

, is exceptional among living frogs. Embryonic development, larval phase, and metamorphosis can be completed in 17 days at a temperature of 29°C. The metamorphosis only takes 5 days. The present study shows that, despite the unusually short larval phase in P. adspersus, the state of skeletal differentiation reached at the end of metamorphosis is similar to that of other frog species. There is no shift of cranial bone formation postmetamorphosis as could have been expected and is known from other species. The majority of compared species are particularly similar in the sequence of bone formation in the postcranial skeleton. However, there are clear differences among species in the timing of these events relative to the larval growth trajectory, absolute time, and certain developmental markers, such as external limb differentiation. For example, skeletogenesis and externally visible limb differentiation are only loosely integrated. Interspecific comparisons show that, in P. adspersus, the early onset of skeletal ossification is an unusual feature among frogs. Freshly metamorphosed froglets of P. adspersus are already distinct from comparable stages of other species in having strong jaws, fang-like teeth, and a squamosal-maxilla contact. The latter stabilizes the maxillary arcade and the suspensorium and might relate to the ability to catch and swallow very large vigorous prey, such as siblings, shortly after metamorphosis. The presence of a complete set of dermatocranial elements and postmetamorphic ossification of only the sphenethmoid and operculum are considered plesiomorphic features, whereas the much less completely ossified skulls of metamorphosed froglets, particularly in Bufo and Hamptophryne, are likely apo- morphic developmental traits within the Anura.