Environmental variation can promote differentiation in life-history traits in species
of anurans. Increased environmental stress usually results in larger age at sexual
maturity, older mean age, longer longevity, slower growth, larger body size, and a
shift in reproductive allocation from offspring quantity to quality, and a stronger
trade-off between offspring size and number. However, previous studies have suggested
that there are inconsistent geographical variations in life-history traits among anuran
species in China. Hence, we here review the intraspecific patterns and differences
in life-history traits (i.e., egg size, clutch size, testes size, sperm length, age
at sexual maturity, longevity, body size and sexual size dimorphism) among different
populations within species along geographical gradients for anurans in China in recent
years. We also provide future directions for studying difference in sperm performance
between longer and shorter sperm within a species through transplant experiments and
the relationships between metabolic rate and brain size and life-history.
