Geographic Variation in Organ Size in a Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The size of an organism’s organs not only relates to its body size and physiological function, but also offers important evidence of its adaptation to environmental changes. This study specifically investigated the geographical variation in organ size within the Asian common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus). Our findings revealed significant differences in the relative sizes of nine selected organs among various populations. Furthermore, we examined the effects of the geographical gradient on organ size, uncovering a positive correlation between the relative size of the testes and altitude and/or latitude. ABSTRACT: Adaptive evolution is the process by which organisms change their morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics to adapt to different environments during long-term natural selection. Especially, researching variation in organ size can provide important insights into morphological adaptation in amphibians. In this study, we comparatively studied differences in organ sizes (heart, lungs, liver, gallbladder, kidneys, spleen, digestive tract, testes and brain) among five geographical populations of the Asian common toad Duttaphrynus melanostictus. Our results revealed significant variations in the size of these nine specific organs among the populations. Notably, we observed a significant positive correlation between the relative size of the testes and latitude and/or altitude. However, no correlation was found between the relative size of the heart and the length of the digestive tract with altitude across populations, respectively, contradicting Hesse’s rule and the digestion theory. These findings suggest that our study does not provide substantial theoretical support for the adaptive evolution of organ size in this particular toad species, but rather contributes to the understanding of the evolution and adaptations of species’ different environmental conditions. Further research is warranted to delve deeper into the factors influencing organ size in amphibian populations.