The constant threat from a non-native predator increases tail muscle and fast-start swimming performance in Xenopus tadpoles.

ABSTRACT: Predator-induced phenotypic plasticity is the ability of prey to adapt to their native predator. However, owing to environmental changes, encounters with unknown predators are inevitable. Therefore, study of prey and non-native predator interaction will reveal the primary stages of adaptive strategies in prey-predator interactions in the context of evolutionary processes. Here, Xenopus tadpoles exposed to a non-native predator, a larval salamander, showed a significant increase in body weight and tail length to body length ratio. The T_max² test indicated a significant enhancement of the tail muscle and decrease in the relative ventral fin height in tadpoles exposed to predation risk, leading to significantly higher average swimming speeds. The analysis of muscl

SUBMITTER: Mori T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5703619 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature