ArticlePloS one2013
Larger body size at metamorphosis enhances survival, growth and performance of young cane toads (Rhinella marina).
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers.
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Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed.
- Playing it safe at early life stages: Balancing energy allocations to maximize fitness under seasonal pathogen dynamics.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Article
- The direct cost of amphibian metamorphosis: insights from body weight loss in facultative paedomorphs.BMC biology · 2026Article
- Boreal Toad Survival Varies by Degree of Attenuation and Adaptation of a Fungal Pathogen.EcoHealth · 2026Article
- Gut and skin microbiota ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- When time turns the tide: the interactive effects of ammonium and warming during the larval stage on the resulting adult frogs.Frontiers in zoology · 2025Article
- Growth but Not Corticosterone, Oxidative Stress, or Telomere Length Is Negatively Affected by Microplastic Exposure in a Filter-Feeding Amphibian.Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology · 2025Article
- Urban developmental environments alter tadpole phenotypes depending on origin.The Journal of animal ecology · 2025Article
- Global impacts of exotic eucalypt plantations on wildlife.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Consequences of developmental and growth-rate plasticity within and across life stages in wood frogs (Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- Developmental plasticity to pond drying has carryover costs on metamorph performance.Conservation physiology · 2025Article
- Comparative assessment of solvents toxicity using early life stages of amphibians and cell lines: a case study with dimethyl sulfoxide.Frontiers in toxicology · 2025Article
- A user's guide for understanding reptile and amphibian hydroregulation and climate change impacts.Conservation physiology · 2025Article
- Article
- Increased Temperature and Exposure to Ammonium Alter the Life Cycle of an Anuran Species.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Mechanisms, costs, and carry-over effects of cannibal-induced developmental plasticity in invasive cane toads.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Intraspecific interference retards growth and development of cane toad tadpoles, but those effects disappear by the time of metamorphosis.Royal Society open science · 2023Article
- Inter-annual variation in amphibian larval interspecies interactions.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- The Increasing Role of Short-Term Sperm Storage and Cryopreservation in Conserving Threatened Amphibian Species.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Review
- Ageing across the great divide: tissue transformation, organismal growth and temperature shape telomere dynamics through the metamorphic transition.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Body size at metamorphosis is a key trait in species (such as many anurans) with biphasic life-histories. Experimental studies have shown that metamorph size is highly plastic, depending upon larval density and environmental conditions (e.g. temperature, food supply, water quality, chemical cues from conspecifics, predators and competitors). To test the hypothesis that this developmental plasticity is adaptive, or to determine if inducing plasticity can be used to control an invasive species, we need to know whether or not a metamorphosing anuran's body size influences its subsequent viability. For logistical reasons, there are few data on this topic under field conditions. We studied cane toads (Rhinella marina) within their invasive Australian range. Metamorph body size is highly plastic in this species, and our laboratory studies showed that larger metamorphs had better locomotor performance (both on land and in the water), and were more adept at catching and consuming prey. In mark-recapture trials in outdoor enclosures, larger body size enhanced metamorph survival and growth rate under some seasonal conditions. Larger metamorphs maintained their size advantage over smaller siblings for at least a month. Our data support the critical but rarely-tested assumption that all else being equal, larger body size at metamorphosis is likely to enhance an individual's long term viability. Thus, manipulations to reduce body size at metamorphosis in cane toads may help to reduce the ecological impact of this invasive species.
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