[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/49525000/jpg/_49525479_toad_2.jpg[/img]
[quote]Scientists have demonstrated a "runaway evolutionary effect" that is speeding up Australia's cane toad invasion.[/quote]
This explains why the invasive toads have increased their rate of spread so dramatically, the researchers say.
They found that toads living at the very edge of their range were "super-invaders" - able to move beyond the boundaries of this existing habitat.
And when toads at the frontiers bred, their offspring inherited this ability to move quickly into new territory.
This phenomenon, which scientists have termed the Olympic Village Effect, has been proposed before, since scientists observed that the toads at the edge of the range had bigger front legs and stronger back legs - all the better to jump and to invade new areas.
In this study, the researchers tested the effect, essentially setting up a cane toad race.
Dr Ben Phillips from James Cook University in Queensland, Australia collected cane toads from four different populations.
He captured ten toads from the core population in northern Queensland, and ten from each of three populations that were increasingly distant from this point.
He took the toads to a facility in the appropriately named Middle Point near Darwin, where he fitted them with radio tags and then released them. The tags enabled the scientists to follow the toads' progress.
As Dr Phillips expected, toads that were collected from the edge of the range were much faster movers.
[b]Source:[/b] [url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9096000/9096795.stm[/url]
I like to get one in a plastic bag and stab it.
Oh the great fun you can do with cane toads!
[QUOTE=kartarn;25505461]I like to get one in a plastic bag and stab it.
Oh the great fun you can do with cane toads![/QUOTE]
I heard they make a loud pop when you run them over.
Heh funny you say that because my mum loves running them over, if she misses she reverses and tries again. We don't leave until we get that.
Another fun way is to put a smoke in it's mouth, when it puffs on it, it gets really fat and explodes.
Sorry, why are you running over toads? All I can think of is the end of that Simpsons Episode where they go to Australia. Is it like that? :confused:
[QUOTE=cyclocius;25505585]Sorry, why are you running over toads? All I can think of is the end of that Simpsons Episode where they go to Australia. Is it like that? :confused:[/QUOTE]
Because they are a plague that is ruining Australia's economy.
[QUOTE=cyclocius;25505585]Sorry, why are you running over toads? All I can think of is the end of that Simpsons Episode where they go to Australia. Is it like that? :confused:[/QUOTE]
No, we just really fucking hate toads.
Cane toads are assholes.
Pricks stole my house.
...Alrighty then.
Wow I must be lame, all we ever did was put them in a plastic bag and freeze them.
Haha, you are so cool, killing animals in cruel ways.
Unfortunately, i cant do that shit in melbourne.
They arent that common in that area =(
[QUOTE=cyclocius;25505630]...Alrighty then.[/QUOTE]
Cane Toads are considered a pest in Australia because they:
poison pets and injure humans with their toxins
poison many native animals whose diet includes frogs, tadpoles and frogs' eggs
eat large numbers of honey bees, creating a management problem for bee-keepers
prey on native fauna
compete for food with vertebrate insectivores such as small skinks
may carry diseases that are can be transmitted to native frogs and fishes.
[editline]19th October 2010[/editline]
[QUOTE=BloodYScar;25505674]Haha, you are so cool, killing animals in cruel ways.[/QUOTE]
Although we are supposed to kill them, they are not protected by Australian wildlife regulations but they ARE covered by animal-welfare laws – so if you do decide to kill a toad you need to do it humanely.
Basically wrap it in plastic and chuck it in the freezer for a few days.
[QUOTE=BloodYScar;25505674]Haha, you are so cool, killing animals in cruel ways.[/QUOTE]
Don't start.
[QUOTE=BloodYScar;25505674]Haha, you are so cool, killing animals in cruel ways.[/QUOTE]
They're pest, we have no sympathy for them.
[QUOTE=kartarn;25505735]They're pest, we have no sympathy for them.[/QUOTE]
Pretty much. Any animal that eats them dies.
[QUOTE=kartarn;25505735]They're pest, we have no sympathy for them.[/QUOTE]
so are humans, but whatever sick fuck.
Luckily I don't get them near me, but when I was in Queensland we went out at night and played golf with them.
[QUOTE=pfoot;25506524]so are humans, but whatever sick fuck.[/QUOTE]
they're a plague that causes billions of dollars damage to Australian agriculture.
And that's not even mentioning everything else.
First encounter i ever had with a cane toad was on my second night living in darwin. Stepped outside and stepped on one, had no idea what it was, had never seen one before. I nearly shat myself.
[QUOTE=Keeshond v2;25506666]
First encounter i ever had with a cane toad was on my second night living in darwin. Stepped outside and stepped on one, had no idea what it was, had never seen one before. I nearly shat myself.[/QUOTE]
What, you've never seen a frog or toad?
Pour salt on them, they die pretty quickly.
[QUOTE=Boeing787;25505688]Although we are supposed to kill them, they are not protected by Australian wildlife regulations but [b]they ARE covered by animal-welfare laws – so if you do decide to kill a toad you need to do it humanely.[/b]
Basically wrap it in plastic and chuck it in the freezer for a few days.[/QUOTE]
I'm not against animal rights but that has to be one of the stupidest things I've ever heard, invasive species should be put down in any way possible.
[QUOTE=Boeing787;25505688]
Although we are supposed to kill them, they are not protected by Australian wildlife regulations but they ARE covered by animal-welfare laws – so if you do decide to kill a toad you need to do it humanely.
Basically wrap it in plastic and chuck it in the freezer for a few days.[/QUOTE]
I'll admit I'm not well informed on the canetoad problem in Australia, but freezing a toad over the course of a few days is NOT humane. I'm not an animal rights activist, and I usually take a fairly apathetic stance on hunting and stuff, but this is almost as bad as the time I went to the Philippines and saw kids buying baby chicks and pulling their eyes out/drowning them/pulling their legs off and watching them squirm.
I understand that Australia probably needs you to do this, it's just a little shocking to see someone linking "humane" to the asphyxiation, freezing, and brutal bludgeoning of the toads.
[QUOTE=cyclocius;25505585]Sorry, why are you running over toads? All I can think of is the end of that Simpsons Episode where they go to Australia. Is it like that? :confused:[/QUOTE]
They're a plague, they are also a good demonstration of how introducing an "alien" species to an habitat can fuck it all up.
Humans took toads to Australia to get rid of a huge bug problem they had, problem is, the toad has next to no predators in Australia meaning that the population can grow extremely large.
They tought about bringing snakes in to kill the frogs but they don't want to make it worse, if you had to choose, would you prefer a mildly poisonous frog plague that doesn't give a shit about humans or a deadly poisonous snake plague that can get agressive towards humans?
I haven't seen a single one here in Aus.
I wanna go stompa lompa crazy.
[QUOTE=WaLLy3K;25506831]Pour salt on them, they die pretty quickly.[/QUOTE]
No that's slugs.
[QUOTE=pfoot;25506524]so are humans, but whatever sick fuck.[/QUOTE]
[B]HA
HA
[/B]this guy.
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;25506976]No that's slugs.[/QUOTE]
Amphibians have very sensitive skin. If you poured salt on a toad it'd probably die too, they breathe through their skin or something fucked like that.
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