Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia, 13() 1968
Morphology of the F1 Generation of Various Crosses within Rana esculenta-Complex
Abstract:
Metamorphosed F1 specimens produced by crosses of three forms of green frogs, viz. Rana lessonae Camerano, R. esculenta Linnaeus and R. ridibunda Pallas, fall into three morphological groups corresponding with them. The indices analysed suggest that only the progeny of lessonae and ridibunda inherit characters of their parents, whereas the offspring of esculenta exhibit, almost exclusively, characters typical of ridibunda. The group which reveals esculenta characters consist of hybrids obtained by crossing the form lessonae with esculenta or ridibunda. The author concludes that out of the three forms of green frogs, those of lessonae and ridibunda are species and the form esculenta is a hybrid produced, above all, by crossing the two others.
