Tadpoles of hybridising fire-bellied toads (B. bombina and B. variegata) differ in their susceptibility to predation.

ABSTRACT: The role of adaptive divergence in the formation of new species has been the subject of much recent debate. The most direct evidence comes from traits that can be shown to have diverged under natural selection and that now contribute to reproductive isolation. Here, we investigate differential adaptation of two fire-bellied toads (Anura, Bombinatoridae) to two types of aquatic habitat. Bombina bombina and B. variegata are two anciently diverged taxa that now reproduce in predator-rich ponds and ephemeral aquatic sites, respectively. Nevertheless, they hybridise extensively wherever their distribution ranges adjoin. We show in laboratory experiments that, as expected, B. variegata tadpoles are at relatively greater risk of predation from dragonfly larvae, even when they display a predator-i

SUBMITTER: Smolinsky R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7721483 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature