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Tadpole Skin Secretions, Not Food or Temperature, Mediate Costly Cannibal-Induced Plasticity in Invasive Cane Toad
Michael R Crossland1, Richard Shine2, Jayna L DeVore1,3
1School of Life and Environmental Sciences A08 The University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia.
Ecology and Evolution
|April 2, 2025
Summary
Hatchlings of invasive cane toads accelerate development when sensing cannibal tadpoles, but this response incurs significant long-term costs. These negative effects are specific to cannibal cues and cannot be offset by increased food availability.
Area of Science:
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Chemical Ecology
- Amphibian Biology
Background:
- Invasive cane toads (Rhinella marina) exhibit facultative developmental plasticity in response to conspecific chemical cues.
- Predation-induced developmental acceleration in amphibians is rare, and its long-term consequences are not well understood.
- The specific cue, its source, and the context-dependent impacts of this plasticity in cane toads remain largely unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify the source of chemical cues inducing costly developmental plasticity in cane toad hatchlings.
- To determine if carry-over costs are specific to cannibal-induced acceleration or general to accelerated development.
- To investigate whether food availability can mitigate the negative carry-over effects of cannibal cue exposure.
Main Methods:
- Laboratory experiments utilizing skin swabs from cannibalistic and non-cannibalistic cane toad tadpoles.
- Exposure of cane toad hatchlings to chemical cues and assessment of developmental rates.
- Manipulation of food availability to evaluate its impact on carry-over effects.
Main Results:
- Chemical cues from cannibalistic tadpole skin trigger accelerated development in hatchlings, incurring subsequent growth, development, and survival costs.
- Temperature-induced developmental acceleration did not result in similar negative carry-over effects, indicating specificity to cannibal cues.
- Increased food availability during early development did not mitigate the negative carry-over costs associated with cannibal cue exposure.
Conclusions:
- Developmental plasticity in response to conspecific cannibal cues imposes unique, unavoidable costs on young cane toads.
- The chemical cue originates from the skin of cannibalistic tadpoles, and tadpoles exhibit plasticity in producing these cues.
- These findings highlight the complex ecological and evolutionary implications of chemical communication and developmental plasticity in invasive species.
