Friday, November 02, 2007

Arthritis in Cane Toads

Cane toads were introduced into Australia in efforts to save the sugar cane from beetles that were eating the crop. They soon found out that the toads would not help with the beetle situation but would cause a whole lot more problems. These giant, poisonous toads are very good at surviving and reproducing and have therefore infiltrated the landscape of Australia. Because they are so highly invasive they have been destructive and nearly impossible to control, but new research shows that they may be slowing down. Rick Shine, at the University of Sydney, has found that about one in 10 of the largest cane toads suffer from severe spinal arthritis, in part due to the evolution of longer legs to help their invasion. He says that the frogs’ bodies are not built for the type of activity that the invasion process requires, including traveling about 426 feet every day during the rainy season. Because of this balls of bony tissue have grown around their joints affecting their ability to hop and making them very uncomfortable, yet they continue on their path. This is good news to some degree for the people trying to stop the toads because it shows that their immune systems are run down and could act as a way to control the spread. It is expected that this development will decrease the acceleration of their invasion in the near future.
Posted By Hollis Martin (6)

4 Comments:

At 9:45 PM, Blogger PWH said...

What a terrible situation! In all of the biology classes I have taken, I have learned of these population relocation situations and the detrimental problems they create. Either researchers do not foresee these possible problems or they do not spend enough time hypothesizing potential problems. I enjoyed reading your article, but I was a bit confused as to why the toads must travel such a long distance everyday.

Posted by Kathryn DeLisle (6)

 
At 5:27 PM, Blogger PWH said...

It's interesting to see that the toads are slowing down in their destructive path due to their evolutionary constraits. However, what makes these toads so destructive? Just because they're giant? Are they poisonous to touch?

I was also wondering why they were travelling so extensively during the rainy season. Is it really necessary for these toads to travel so far every day during the rainy season? Is it because the spawn have hatched at that time and it is just an instinctive evolutionary pattern? Do they mate during the rainy season? Are they seeking territories?

I think you should go into a little more detail, perhaps doing some research on your own if the article you chose is not informative enough.

Posted by Christine Tauras (6)

 
At 11:11 PM, Blogger PWH said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 11:13 PM, Blogger PWH said...

I really enjoyed reading your article. I've learned about cane toads in the past, but the arthritis aspect is completely new. It's very interesting that they're bodies are seeming to show the wear and tear of years and years of quick breeding cycles and long distance hopping! I would definitely love to read more on the subject, especially because I've seen a comedic video on the invasion. Great article!

Posted by Katie Ensor

 

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