Toxic Toads in Australia

[Guest guest]

..... who would have thought the ones with the longest legs travel

quicker than the ones with the shortest legs :-) .....

 

Toxic toads 'threaten disaster'

By Rebecca Morelle

BBC News science reporter

 

 

 

Cane toads can move up to 1.8km in one night

Toxic cane toads are evolving into an 'eco-nightmare' that are able

to cover huge distances, a study says.

 

Scientists, writing in the journal Nature, found the toads are

getting leggier, moving faster and further than their shorter-legged

counterparts.

 

Cane toads were introduced for pest control in Australia 70 years

ago, but have proved an ecological disaster.

 

They are now found in an area covering over a million square

kilometres, but there is no known method of control.

 

Incredible distances

 

Cane toads (Bufo marinus), which can weigh up to 2kg, are toxic and

highly invasive.

 

Since their arrival in Queensland in 1935, they have been sweeping

through Australia leaving a trail of dead creatures in their wake.

 

How to control them is the $64 million question

 

Dr Ben Phillips, University of Sydney

 

To investigate their worrying spread, scientists looked at cane toads

invading the Northern Territory of Australia, at a site about 60km

east of Darwin.

 

They caught the toads, measured them, and also attached a radio-

transmitter, weighing about 5-6g, around their waist to track their

movements.

 

" During an invasion process the individuals at the front are there

because they have moved the furthest, " explained Dr Ben Phillips, an

author on the paper and an evolutionary biologist at the University

of Sydney, Australia.

 

" We showed that the toads that are the first to arrive at the front

are the ones with the longest legs, and the ones last to arrive have

shorter legs.

 

" The front toads also have much longer legs than the older

populations in Queensland. "

 

'Ecological nightmare'

 

They discovered that the toads were moving incredibly quickly,

covering distances about five times faster than when they arrived 70

years ago.

 

" They are moving around 55km a year on average, which is a long way

to hop if you are a toad, " said Dr Phillips.

 

The researchers believe their findings indicate evolution is

favouring longer-legged toads which can travel further, quicker,

meaning they can encroach on new territories faster than ever before.

 

The scientists say the toads are causing an " ecological nightmare " ,

killing many native creatures including snakes, monitor lizards and

mammal predators, which are poisoned after eating their toxic skin.

 

So far, scientists have been unable to find a successful way of

controlling the ever-spreading invaders, which are now on the cusp of

invading Darwin.

 

" How to control them is the $64 million question, " said Dr Phillips.

 

" A lot of time and money has been spent researching how to control

toads, but it is an ongoing problem. "