The fauna fights back: invasive Cane Toads killed by native centipedes in tropical Australia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Pomeroy ◽  
Gregory P. Brown ◽  
Grahame J. W. Webb ◽  
Richard Shine
Keyword(s):  
Northern Territory ◽  
Cane Toad ◽  
Popular Opinion ◽  
Rhinella Marina ◽  
Tropical Australia

ABSTRACT We report two cases of Cane Toads Rhinella marina being killed by Australasian Giant Centipedes Ethmostigmus rubripes in the Northern Territory. At 1730 h on 12 November 2020, a centipede was found attacking a subadult Cane Toad near Larrimah, Northern Territory. At 2015 h on 26 April 2005, near Humpty Doo, a centipede that was seized by a subadult Cane Toad retaliated and killed its attacker (but did not consume it). These observations reinforce the fact that, contrary to popular opinion, Cane Toads are vulnerable to many species of native predators in Australia.

scholarly journals Embryonic exposure to conspecific chemicals suppresses cane toad growth and survival

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Crossland ◽  
Richard Shine
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Cane Toad ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Rhinella Marina ◽  
Embryonic Exposure ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Tropical Australia ◽  
Survival And Growth ◽  
Invasive Taxa

Adaptations to suppress the viability of conspecifics may provide novel ways to control invasive taxa. The spread of cane toads ( Rhinella marina ) through tropical Australia has had severe ecological impacts, stimulating a search for biocontrol. Our experiments show that cane toad tadpoles produce waterborne chemical cues that suppress the viability of conspecifics encountering those cues during embryonic development. Brief (72 h) exposure to these cues in the egg and post-hatching phases massively reduced rates of survival and growth of larvae. Body sizes at metamorphosis (about three weeks later) were almost twice as great in control larvae as in tadpole-exposed larvae. The waterborne cue responsible for these effects might provide a weapon to reduce toad recruitment within the species' invaded range.

Habitat use of the introduced cane toad (Rhinella marina) and native frog species in tropical Australia

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 531-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Mayer ◽  
Gregory P. Brown ◽  
Barbara Zimmermann ◽  
Matthew J. Greenlees ◽  
Richard Shine
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Northern Australia ◽  
Cane Toad ◽  
Rhinella Marina ◽  
Frog Species ◽  
Tropical Australia ◽  
Reducing Activity

Abstract:The ecological impacts of introduced species can reveal mechanisms underlying habitat selection and behaviour. We investigated the habitat use of native frog species and the invasive cane toads (Rhinella marina) in tropical northern Australia to measure overlap in habitat use, and to test if the presence of the cane toad influences frog behaviour. Native frog species and the cane toad both preferred habitats close to water and unvegetated holes. However, native frogs were found further from water (on average 19.4 m) than were toads (on average 12.6 m), and preferred areas with higher vegetation (8–50 cm) than did toads, which were more abundant in vegetation lower than 8 cm. For both types of anuran, the next neighbour was more often of the same type (89% in frogs, 52% in toads) than expected by chance (observed ratio: 75% frogs vs 25% toads), reflecting these differences in habitat use. Our counts of frog abundance increased on average 14.5% in areas from which we removed cane toads temporarily. This result suggests that cane toads inhibit the activity of native anurans either by inducing avoidance, or by reducing activity. By modifying the behaviour and spatial distribution of native taxa, invasive cane toads may curtail activities such as feeding and breeding.

Cane toad ( Rhinella marina ) vitamin A, vitamin E, and carotenoid kinetics

Zoo Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarra Freel ◽  
Elizabeth Koutsos ◽  
Larry J. Minter ◽  
Troy Tollefson ◽  
Frank Ridgley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin E ◽  
Vitamin A ◽  
Cane Toad ◽  
Rhinella Marina

Changes in urinary testosterone and corticosterone metabolites during short-term confinement with repeated handling in wild male cane toads (Rhinella marina)

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward J. Narayan ◽  
Frank C. Molinia ◽  
John F. Cockrem ◽  
Jean-Marc Hero
Keyword(s):  
Adult Male ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Hormone Secretion ◽  
Reproductive Hormone ◽  
Cane Toad ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Rhinella Marina ◽  
Testosterone Secretion ◽  
Metabolite Concentrations ◽  
Corticosterone Metabolites

Stressors generally decrease testosterone secretion and inhibit reproduction in animals. Urinary testosterone and corticosterone metabolite concentrations were measured in adult male cane toads (Rhinella marina) at the time of capture from the wild and during 24 h of confinement with repeated handling. Mean urinary testosterone concentrations increased 2 h after capture, were significantly elevated above initial concentrations at 5 h, and then declined. Mean testosterone concentrations remained elevated 24 h after capture. Mean urinary corticosterone concentrations increased after capture, were significantly elevated above initial concentrations at 2 h, and remained elevated thereafter. This is the first report in amphibians of an increase in testosterone excretion after capture from the wild, with previous studies showing either no change or decline in testosterone. This finding may be associated with the mating strategy and maintenance of reproductive effort in the cane toad, a species that shows explosive breeding and agonistic male–male interactions during breeding. The finding that testosterone excretion increases rather than decreases after capture in male cane toads shows that it should not be generally assumed that reproductive hormone secretion will decrease after capture in amphibians.

Encounters on the Frontier: Banteng in Australia’s Northern Territory

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa deKoninck
Keyword(s):  
Introduced Species ◽  
National Park ◽  
Genetic Resource ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Nonhuman Animal ◽  
The North ◽  
Bos Javanicus ◽  
Environmental Threat ◽  
Tropical Australia ◽  
Over Time

Abstract This paper considers the case of an introduced species that resides in what is now a jointly managed national park in the north of tropical Australia. Banteng (Bos javanicus) are a peculiar feral nonhuman animal in that they constitute a potential environmental threat within the domestic conservation goals of the park, but they also hold the prospect of being a major genetic resource in the international conservation of the species. Thus, perspectives on the use and management of these animals are varied between different actors in the park landscape, and are subject to fluctuations over time, especially in response to wider social and political circumstances. This paper argues that seemingly objective views of these animals are actually a series of subjectivities, which have less to do with any concrete aspects of the animals themselves and more to do with the way that particular people orient themselves toward, and within, the landscape.

scholarly journals Non-reproductive male cane toads ( Rhinella marina ) withhold sex-identifying information from their rivals

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 20190462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Crystal Kelehear ◽  
Richard Shine
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Identity ◽  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Opportunity Cost ◽  
Cane Toad ◽  
Rhinella Marina ◽  
Secondary Sexual Characteristics ◽  
Sexual Characteristics ◽  
Reproductive Male ◽  
Male Specific ◽  
Do So

A male cane toad ( Rhinella marina ) that mistakenly clasps another male (rather than a female) in a sexual embrace (amplexus) can be induced to dismount by a male-specific ‘release call'. Although that sex-identifying system can benefit both males in that interaction, our standardized tests showed that one-third of male cane toads did not emit release calls when grasped. Most of those silent males were small, had small testes relative to body mass, and had poorly developed secondary sexual characteristics. If emitting a release call is costly (e.g. by attracting predators), a non-reproductive male may benefit by remaining silent; other cues (such as skin rugosity) will soon induce the amplexing male to dismount, and the ‘opportunity cost’ to being amplexed (inability to search for and clasp a female) is minimal for non-reproductive males. Hence, male toads may inform other males about their sexual identity only when it is beneficial to do so.

Transposable elements expression in Rhinella marina (cane toad) specimens submitted to immune and stress challenge

Genetica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Ludwig ◽  
Michelle Orane Schemberger ◽  
Camilla Borges Gazolla ◽  
Joana de Moura Gama ◽  
Iraine Duarte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transposable Elements ◽  
Cane Toad ◽  
Rhinella Marina

scholarly journals Draft genome assembly of the invasive cane toad, Rhinella marina

GigaScience ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J Edwards ◽  
Daniel Enosi Tuipulotu ◽  
Timothy G Amos ◽  
Denis O'Meally ◽  
Mark F Richardson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Assembly ◽  
Draft Genome ◽  
Cane Toad ◽  
Rhinella Marina ◽  
Draft Genome Assembly
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document