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Gardner ST, Appel AG, Mendonça MT. Chasing Cane Toads: Assessing Locomotory Differences in Toads from Core and Edge Populations in Florida. HERPETOLOGICA 2022. [DOI: 10.1655/herpetologica-d-21-00005.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Steven T. Gardner
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, 331 Funchess Hall, 350 South College Street, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Arthur G. Appel
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University, 301 Funchess Hall, 350 South College Street, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Mary T. Mendonça
- Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, 331 Funchess Hall, 350 South College Street, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
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Hudson CM, Vidal-García M, Murray TG, Shine R. The accelerating anuran: evolution of locomotor performance in cane toads ( Rhinella marina, Bufonidae) at an invasion front. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20201964. [PMID: 33171090 PMCID: PMC7735276 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
As is common in biological invasions, the rate at which cane toads (Rhinella marina) have spread across tropical Australia has accelerated through time. Individuals at the invasion front travel further than range-core conspecifics and exhibit distinctive morphologies that may facilitate rapid dispersal. However, the links between these morphological changes and locomotor performance have not been clearly documented. We used raceway trials and high-speed videography to document locomotor traits (e.g. hop distances, heights, velocities, and angles of take-off and landing) of toads from range-core and invasion-front populations. Locomotor performance varied geographically, and this variation in performance was linked to morphological features that have evolved during the toads' Australian invasion. Geographical variation in morphology and locomotor ability was evident not only in wild-caught animals, but also in individuals that had been raised under standardized conditions in captivity. Our data thus support the hypothesis that the cane toad's invasion across Australia has generated rapid evolutionary shifts in dispersal-relevant performance traits, and that these differences in performance are linked to concurrent shifts in morphological traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cameron M. Hudson
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Centre of Ecology, Evolution and Biochemistry, Seestrasse 79, 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
| | - Marta Vidal-García
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Trevor G. Murray
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Richard Shine
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, New South Wales 2109, Australia
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Padilla P, Tallis J, Hurst J, Courant J, James RS, Herrel A. Do muscle contractile properties drive differences in locomotor performance in invasive populations of Xenopus laevis in France? J Comp Physiol B 2020; 190:771-778. [PMID: 32955613 DOI: 10.1007/s00360-020-01310-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2020] [Revised: 08/31/2020] [Accepted: 09/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Jumping and swimming are key locomotor traits in frogs intimately linked to survival and dispersal. French populations of the frog Xenopus laevis from the invasion front are known to possess greater terrestrial locomotor endurance. Here, we tested whether individuals from the invasion front show differences in their muscle physiology that may underlie the observed whole-organism performance differences. We measured muscle contractile properties of the isolated gastrocnemius muscle in vitro, including isometric stress, activation and relaxation time, and work loop power output, both before and during a period of fatiguing contractions. We found that frogs from the centre of the range can produce tetanus force in their gastrocnemius muscle faster than animals from the periphery of the range, which could contribute to higher performance in one-off jumps. Yet, populations did not differ in muscle endurance. These results, coupled with previous work on this invasive population of Xenopus laevis, suggest that the greater stamina observed in individuals from the periphery may be more due to anatomical differences such as longer hind limbs and larger hearts along with potentially other as of yet untested physiological differences rather than differences in the mechanical properties of skeletal muscle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Padilla
- Département Adaptations du Vivant, UMR 7179 C.N.R.S/M.N.H.N., 55 rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France. .,Laboratory of Ecology and Conservation of Amphibians (LECA), Behavioural Biology Group, U. R. Freshwater and OCeanic Science Unit of reSearch (FOCUS), University of Liège, 22 Quai van Beneden, 4020, Liège, Belgique.
| | - Jason Tallis
- Centre for Sport, Exercise and Life Sciences, Coventry University, Coventry, CV1 5FB, UK
| | - Josh Hurst
- Centre for Sport, Exercise and Life Sciences, Coventry University, Coventry, CV1 5FB, UK
| | - Julien Courant
- Département Adaptations du Vivant, UMR 7179 C.N.R.S/M.N.H.N., 55 rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Rob S James
- Centre for Sport, Exercise and Life Sciences, Coventry University, Coventry, CV1 5FB, UK
| | - Anthony Herrel
- Département Adaptations du Vivant, UMR 7179 C.N.R.S/M.N.H.N., 55 rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France.,Evolutionary Morphology of Vertebrates, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
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Jessop TS, Lane M, Wilson RS, Narayan EJ. Testing for Short- and Long-Term Thermal Plasticity in Corticosterone Responses of an Ectothermic Vertebrate. Physiol Biochem Zool 2018; 91:967-975. [PMID: 29863953 DOI: 10.1086/698664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity, broadly defined as the capacity of one genotype to produce more than one phenotype, is a key mechanism for how animals adapt to environmental (including thermal) variation. Vertebrate glucocorticoid hormones exert broad-scale regulation of physiological, behavioral, and morphological traits that influence fitness under many life-history or environmental contexts. Yet the capacity for vertebrates to demonstrate different types of thermal plasticity, including rapid compensation or longer acclimation in glucocorticoid hormone function, when subject to different environmental temperature regimes remains poorly addressed. Here, we explore whether patterns of urinary corticosterone metabolites respond (i.e., evidence of acclimation) to repeated short-term and sustained long-term temperature exposures in an amphibian, the cane toad (Rhinella marina). In response to three repeated short (30-min) high-temperature (37°C) exposures (at 10-d intervals), toads produced urinary corticosterone metabolite responses of sequentially greater magnitude, relative to controls. However, toads subjected to 4 wk of acclimation to either cool (18°C)- or warm (30°C)-temperature environments did not differ significantly in their urinary corticosterone metabolite responses during exposure to a thermal ramp (18°-36°C). Together, these results indicate that adult toads had different, including limited, capacities for their glucocorticoid responses to demonstrate plasticity to different regimes of environmental temperature variation. We advocate further research as necessary to identify plasticity, or lack thereof, in glucocorticoid physiology, to better understand how vertebrates can regulate organismal responses to environmental variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim S Jessop
- 1 Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia
| | - Meagan Lane
- 2 School of Biosciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Robbie S Wilson
- 3 School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Edward J Narayan
- 4 School of Science and Health, Hawkesbury campus, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, New South Wales 2751, Australia
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Kosmala G, Christian K, Brown G, Shine R. Locomotor performance of cane toads differs between native-range and invasive populations. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2017; 4:170517. [PMID: 28791174 PMCID: PMC5541569 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2017] [Accepted: 06/08/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Invasive species provide a robust opportunity to evaluate how animals deal with novel environmental challenges. Shifts in locomotor performance-and thus the ability to disperse-(and especially, the degree to which it is constrained by thermal and hydric extremes) are of special importance, because they might affect the rate that an invader can spread. We studied cane toads (Rhinella marina) across a broad geographical range: two populations within the species' native range in Brazil, two invasive populations on the island of Hawai'i and eight invasive populations encompassing the eastern, western and southern limits of the toad invasion in Australia. A toad's locomotor performance on a circular raceway was strongly affected by both its temperature and its hydration state, but the nature and magnitude of those constraints differed across populations. In their native range, cane toads exhibited relatively low performance (even under optimal test conditions) and a rapid decrease in performance at lower temperatures and hydration levels. At the other extreme, performance was high in toads from southern Australia, and virtually unaffected by desiccation. Hawai'ian toads broadly resembled their Brazilian conspecifics, plausibly reflecting similar climatic conditions. The invasion of Australia has been accompanied by a dramatic enhancement in the toads' locomotor abilities, and (in some populations) by an ability to maintain locomotor performance even when the animal is cold and/or dehydrated. The geographical divergences in performance among cane toad populations graphically attest to the adaptability of invasive species in the face of novel abiotic challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgia Kosmala
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Keith Christian
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Casuarina, Northern Territory 0909, Australia
| | - Gregory Brown
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Richard Shine
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
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Denton RD, Greenwald KR, Gibbs HL. Locomotor endurance predicts differences in realized dispersal between sympatric sexual and unisexual salamanders. Funct Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Robert D. Denton
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology Ohio State University, 300 Aronoff Laboratory, 318 West 12th Avenue Columbus OH 43210 USA
- Ohio Biodiversity Conservation Partnership Ohio State University, 300 Aronoff Laboratory, 318 West 12th Avenue Columbus OH 43210 USA
| | - Katherine R. Greenwald
- Department of Biology Eastern Michigan University, 441 Mark Jefferson Science Complex Ypsilanti MI 48197 USA
| | - H. Lisle Gibbs
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology Ohio State University, 300 Aronoff Laboratory, 318 West 12th Avenue Columbus OH 43210 USA
- Ohio Biodiversity Conservation Partnership Ohio State University, 300 Aronoff Laboratory, 318 West 12th Avenue Columbus OH 43210 USA
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Constructing an Invasion Machine: The Rapid Evolution of a Dispersal-Enhancing Phenotype During the Cane Toad Invasion of Australia. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0156950. [PMID: 27658247 PMCID: PMC5033235 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2016] [Accepted: 05/22/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Biological invasions can induce rapid evolutionary change. As cane toads (Rhinella marina) have spread across tropical Australia over an 80-year period, their rate of invasion has increased from around 15 to 60 km per annum. Toads at the invasion front disperse much faster and further than conspecifics from range-core areas, and their offspring inherit that rapid dispersal rate. We investigated morphological changes that have accompanied this dramatic acceleration, by conducting three-dimensional morphometric analyses of toads from both range-core and invasion-front populations. Morphology of heads, limbs, pectoral girdles and pelvic girdles differed significantly between toads from the two areas, ranging from 0.5% to 16.5% difference in mean bone dimensions between populations, with invasion-front toads exhibiting wider forelimbs, narrower hindlimbs and more compact skulls. Those changes plausibly reflect an increased reliance on bounding (multiple short hops in quick succession) rather than separate large leaps. Within an 80-year period, invasive cane toads have converted the basic anuran body plan – which evolved for occasional large leaps to evade predators – into a morphotype better-suited to sustained long-distance travel.
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Myles-Gonzalez E, Burness G, Yavno S, Rooke A, Fox MG. To boldly go where no goby has gone before: boldness, dispersal tendency, and metabolism at the invasion front. Behav Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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Rollins LA, Richardson MF, Shine R. A genetic perspective on rapid evolution in cane toads (Rhinella marina). Mol Ecol 2015; 24:2264-76. [PMID: 25894012 DOI: 10.1111/mec.13184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2014] [Revised: 03/24/2015] [Accepted: 03/25/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The process of biological invasion exposes a species to novel pressures, in terms of both the environments it encounters and the evolutionary consequences of range expansion. Several invaders have been shown to exhibit rapid evolutionary changes in response to those pressures, thus providing robust opportunities to clarify the processes at work during rapid phenotypic transitions. The accelerating pace of invasion of cane toads (Rhinella marina) in tropical Australia during its 80-year history has been well characterized at the phenotypic level, including common-garden experiments that demonstrate heritability of several dispersal-relevant traits. Individuals from the invasion front (and their progeny) show distinctive changes in morphology, physiology and behaviour that, in combination, result in far more rapid dispersal than is true of conspecifics from long-colonized areas. The extensive body of work on cane toad ecology enables us to place into context studies of the genetic basis of these traits. Our analyses of differential gene expression from toads from both ends of this invasion-history transect reveal substantial upregulation of many genes, notably those involved in metabolism and cellular repair. Clearly, then, the dramatically rapid phenotypic evolution of cane toads in Australia has been accompanied by substantial shifts in gene expression, suggesting that this system is well suited to investigating the genetic underpinnings of invasiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee A Rollins
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Pigdons Road, Geelong, Vic., 3217, Australia
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Videlier M, Bonneaud C, Cornette R, Herrel A. Exploration syndromes in the frog X
enopus (
S
ilurana) tropicalis
: correlations with morphology and performance? J Zool (1987) 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Videlier
- UMR 7179; Département d'Ecologie et de Gestion de la Biodiversité; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Paris France
| | - C. Bonneaud
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation; College of Life and Environmental Sciences; University of Exeter; Penryn Cornwall UK
| | - R. Cornette
- UMR 7205; Origine, Structure et Evolution de la Biodiversité; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Paris France
| | - A. Herrel
- UMR 7179; Département d'Ecologie et de Gestion de la Biodiversité; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Paris France
- Evolutionary Morphology of Vertebrates; Ghent University; Ghent Belgium
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Kolbe JJ, Ehrenberger JC, Moniz HA, Angilletta MJ. Physiological Variation among Invasive Populations of the Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei). Physiol Biochem Zool 2014; 87:92-104. [DOI: 10.1086/672157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Jessop TS, Letnic M, Webb JK, Dempster T. Adrenocortical stress responses influence an invasive vertebrate's fitness in an extreme environment. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 280:20131444. [PMID: 23945686 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.1444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Continued range expansion into physiologically challenging environments requires invasive species to maintain adaptive phenotypic performance. The adrenocortical stress response, governed in part by glucocorticoid hormones, influences physiological and behavioural responses of vertebrates to environmental stressors. However, any adaptive role of this response in invasive populations that are expanding into extreme environments is currently unclear. We experimentally manipulated the adrenocortical stress response of invasive cane toads (Rhinella marina) to investigate its effect on phenotypic performance and fitness at the species' range front in the Tanami Desert, Australia. Here, toads are vulnerable to overheating and dehydration during the annual hot-dry season and display elevated plasma corticosterone levels indicative of severe environmental stress. By comparing unmanipulated control toads with toads whose adrenocortical stress response was manipulated to increase acute physiological stress responsiveness, we found that control toads had significantly reduced daily evaporative water loss and higher survival relative to the experimental animals. The adrenocortical stress response hence appears essential in facilitating complex phenotypic performance and setting fitness trajectories of individuals from invasive species during range expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim S Jessop
- Department of Zoology, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
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