Cane Toads!

Regular readers of the blog will know of my interest in Cane Toads, and their rampage across Aussie. Toad #2 here and Toad #1 here.

So in todays update - this time from Nature - Rick Shine (quiet Chris...) reported that those toads at the leading edge of the invasion had longer legs. That makes sense. But in research just published in PNAS these toads also have increased spinal abnormalities, with 10% having spinal arthritis. This, Shine says, may make them more vulnerable to novel methods of control - including parasites due to a compromised immune system.

Without too much thinking about this, it strikes me that if arthritis is only affecting 10% of the population, then killing them off maybe a bad move. All you'd be doing would be strengthening the population genetics. Interesting spin on Eugenics tho'.
If the stress induced by the rampage into new environments weakens the immune system (Shine's hypothesis) then infecting them with parasites isn't really dealing to the problem. All it is doing is slowing the spread - but not dealing with the areas already invaded. I still think it makes more sense to focus on a form of reproductive control. Amphibians are quite susceptible to steroid affects, but with the huge herpetofauna in Aussie thats a dangerous road to go down.

Crickey, almost a cogent post.

In upcoming blogs Anapsid/Diapsid III (honest!!) and some music reviews.

b