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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Functional Evaluation of Olfactory Pathways in Living Xenopus Tadpoles
Published on: December 11, 2018
Explanations for deformed frogs: plenty of research left to do (a response to Skelly and Benard)
Stanley K Sessions1, Brandon Ballengée
1Department of Biology, Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York 13829, USA. sessions@hartwick.edu
Abstract:
Our recent study (Ballengeé and Sessions, 2009. J Exp Zool (Mol Dev Evol) 312B:1-10) shows that deformed frogs with missing limbs can be explained by sublethal "selective predation" by predators that are too small, or have mouthparts that are too small, to consume whole tadpoles. Skelly and Benard do not agree with our conclusions and feel that they are not well founded. Here we respond to their critique.
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