Spinal arthritis in cane toads across the Australian landscape

Author(s)
Bower, Deborah S
Yasumiba, Kiyomi
Trumbo, Daryl R
Alford, Ross A
Schwarzkopf, Lin
Publication Date
2018-08-20
Abstract
Loss of fitness can be a consequence of selection for rapid dispersal ability in invasive species. Increased prevalence of spinal arthritis may occur in cane toad populations at the invasion front as a cost of increased invasiveness, but our knowledge of the ecological drivers of this condition is lacking. We aimed to determine the factors explaining the prevalence of spinal arthritis in populations across the Australian landscape. We studied populations across a gradient of invasion histories. We collected 2415 toads over five years and determined the presence and size of spondylosis for each individual. We examined the effect of host size, leg length and invasion history on the prevalence of spondylosis. Host size was a significant predictor of spondylosis across populations. Contrary to our expectation, the overall prevalence of spondylosis was not positively related to invasion history and did not correlate with toad relative leg length. Rather than invasion age, the latitude at which populations were sampled provided an alternate explanation for the prevalence of spondylosis in cane toad populations and suggested that the incidence of this condition did not increase as a physiological cost of invasion, but is instead related to physical variables, such as climate.
Citation
Scientific Reports, v.8, p. 1-5
ISSN
2045-2322
Pubmed ID
30127531
Link
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International
Title
Spinal arthritis in cane toads across the Australian landscape
Type of document
Journal Article
Entity Type
Publication

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