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ANATOMICAL RECORD, vol.306, pp.378-385, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)
A description of the skeletal development of ranids is scarce despite being wellknown in the family Ranidae. Herein, the description of several species of twogenera representing the family Ranidae from Turkey is studied wherein thelarval and adult cranial skeletons of Pelophylax caralitanus are described andcompared with that of the water frog (Pelophylax bedriagae) and mountain frog(Rana macrocnemis). The data are based on cleared and double-stained speci-mens of 20 Gosner developmental Stages (26–46). The first element to ossify inP. caralitanus is the parasphenoid (Stage 30), followed by the exoccipitals(Stage 34) and prootics (Stage 35). The metamorphic climax commences atStage 42 during which several modifications to the chondrocranium willunfold. In addition, ranids demonstrate remarkable differences between thewater (Pelophylax sp.) and mountain (Rana sp.) frog species: (a) the ventrome-dial bridge between the corpora of the suprarostral cartilage in the larval upperjaw, (b) the number of processes of the central corpus in the hyobranchial skel-eton, and (c) the differences in the ossification time and sequence betweenPelophylax sp. and Rana sp. A detailed description of the larval osteologicalfeatures of P. caralitanus conforms to the current phylogenetic position andprovides a model for comparison with other ranids.