Size Differences in Adhesive Toe-Pad Cells of Treefrogs of the Diploid-Polyploid Hyla versicolor Complex

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Abstract
The tetraploid treefrog, H. versicolor, possesses larger cells on the adhesive digital pads than does its diploid sibling species, H. chrysoscelis. Examination of the cells with scanning electron microscopy shows apical surface areas to differ by a factor of 1.46 between the 2 spp., which may be translated to a relative volumetric ratio of 1.77. This is comparable to the 1.8 ratios previously reported in comparisons of blood and sperm cells, mating call pulse rates and DNA content per cell of the 2 spp. A strong correlation between cell size and ploidy is found in these frogs; the 2 spp. are discerned by this criterion 79% of the time.