Constructing an Invasion Machine: The Rapid Evolution of a Dispersal-Enhancing Phenotype During the Cane Toad Invasion of Australia.

ABSTRACT: Biological invasions can induce rapid evolutionary change. As cane toads (Rhinella marina) have spread across tropical Australia over an 80-year period, their rate of invasion has increased from around 15 to 60 km per annum. Toads at the invasion front disperse much faster and further than conspecifics from range-core areas, and their offspring inherit that rapid dispersal rate. We investigated morphological changes that have accompanied this dramatic acceleration, by conducting three-dimensional morphometric analyses of toads from both range-core and invasion-front populations. Morphology of heads, limbs, pectoral girdles and pelvic girdles differed significantly between toads from the two areas, ranging from 0.5% to 16.5% difference in mean bone dimensions between populations, with invas

SUBMITTER: Hudson CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5033235 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature