Male Toads Turned Female
Frogs and toads are very sensitive to the environment. They are sometimes called environmental indicators. This is because they breathe through their skin. Therefore, if something is wrong in the air or the ground they will still inhale or consume it.
Biologists in the University of Florida analyzed many cane toads (Bufo marinus). Some were in the city suburbs while others were near a little to heavy agriculture areas. They found many males exhibiting serious feminization. They think that the cause of this is because of the chemicals used in farming.
In areas with heavy agriculture only 40% of the toads were males. An equal number were intersex males with both males and female parts. In two other sites 20% appeared to be male, yet these males had a Bidder's organ. A toad's Bidder's tissue originally doesn't have a function, yet if the males lose their testicular function, their Bidder's organ may mature into an ovary.
To figure out which toad is both male and female, you have to look at its appearance. In the picture above, the toad on the left is a female because of its mottled skin. The toad on the right is a male because it has plain skin. The toad in the center is both because it has mottled skin like that of a females, and it has nuptial pads like the males. The nuptial pads are the dark stains on its fingers, females do not have these. You can also figure out if the toad is both female and male by looking inside of it and finding some reproduction deformities.
Tyron Hayes of the University of California has investigated changes in frogs. He thinks that the weed-killer altrazine is the cause of the feminization in frogs. Feminine appearance and malformed organs aren't the only obstacle in mating, it's their behavior. In a test, only a few toads seemed to be interested in mating while others were not. This article just goes to show what chemicals and the environment can do to helpless animals.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/33865/title/Farm_life_turns_male_toads_female
Frogs and toads are very sensitive to the environment. They are sometimes called environmental indicators. This is because they breathe through their skin. Therefore, if something is wrong in the air or the ground they will still inhale or consume it.
Biologists in the University of Florida analyzed many cane toads (Bufo marinus). Some were in the city suburbs while others were near a little to heavy agriculture areas. They found many males exhibiting serious feminization. They think that the cause of this is because of the chemicals used in farming.
In areas with heavy agriculture only 40% of the toads were males. An equal number were intersex males with both males and female parts. In two other sites 20% appeared to be male, yet these males had a Bidder's organ. A toad's Bidder's tissue originally doesn't have a function, yet if the males lose their testicular function, their Bidder's organ may mature into an ovary.
To figure out which toad is both male and female, you have to look at its appearance. In the picture above, the toad on the left is a female because of its mottled skin. The toad on the right is a male because it has plain skin. The toad in the center is both because it has mottled skin like that of a females, and it has nuptial pads like the males. The nuptial pads are the dark stains on its fingers, females do not have these. You can also figure out if the toad is both female and male by looking inside of it and finding some reproduction deformities.
Tyron Hayes of the University of California has investigated changes in frogs. He thinks that the weed-killer altrazine is the cause of the feminization in frogs. Feminine appearance and malformed organs aren't the only obstacle in mating, it's their behavior. In a test, only a few toads seemed to be interested in mating while others were not. This article just goes to show what chemicals and the environment can do to helpless animals.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/33865/title/Farm_life_turns_male_toads_female
- Edianys
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