Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29119247›Full record

ArticleJournal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology2018

Wall following in Xenopus laevis is barrier-driven.

Sara Hänzi, Hans Straka

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Rheotactic Responses inEcology and evolution · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Sara HänziDepartment Biologie II, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152, Planegg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-9919-7055
Hans StrakaDepartment Biologie II, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152, Planegg, Germany. straka@lmu.de.ORCID 0000-0003-2874-0441

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The tendency of animals to follow boundaries within their environment can serve as a strategy for spatial learning or defensive behaviour. We examined whether Xenopus laevis tadpoles and froglets employ such a strategy by characterizing their swimming pattern in a square tank with shallow water. Trajectories obtained from video recordings were analysed for proximity to the nearest wall. With the exception of young larvae, the vast majority of animals (both tadpoles and froglets) spent a disproportionately large amount of time near the wall. The total distance covered was not a confounding factor, but animals were stronger wall followers in smaller tanks. Wall following was also not influenced by whether the surrounding walls of the tank were black or white, illuminated by infrared light, or by the presence or absence of tentacles. When given a choice in a convex tank to swim straight and leave the wall or turn to follow the wall, the animals consistently left the wall, indicating that wall following in X. laevis is barrier-driven. This implies that wall following behaviour in Xenopus derives from constraints imposed by the environment (or the experimenter) and is unlikely a strategy for spatial learning or safety seeking.

Indexed as

Behavior, AnimalSpatial BehaviorSwimmingXenopus laevisAnimalsChoice BehaviorHousing, AnimalLightingDevelopmentLocomotionSwimmingThigmotaxisWall following

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.