Morphological and ecological features of peripherial local populations of Bufo raddei Str. within the north - western part of their habitat

Abstract

The number of features related to morphology, distribution of habitats, biotopical distribution, and biology of species reproduction (within the territory described) of the Mongolian toad (Bufo raddei) which inhabits western shore of Lake Baikal were described. In this paper on the basis of the results of field studies in 1997, 2001, 2005, 2012 the original data on reproduction and chemical composition of the spawning ponds, used by frogs for reproduction, is presented. It was found that reproduction of species occurs in the salty steppe (14-45 g/L) lakes in the west part of the Baikal basin.