Dissertation Research: Inducible Defenses and Plasticity in Tadpoles: Characterization of Chemical Alarm Cues

蝌蚪的诱导防御和可塑性：化学警报线索的表征。托马斯特纳·杰奎琳·格兰特许多生物体在日常生活中对危险毫无准备。然而，有些人可以通过暗示预示危险的环境刺激来预测危险。在灰色树蛙（Hyla versicolor）中，化学警报信号从受伤的蝌蚪皮肤中释放出来。这些线索诱导同种蝌蚪的形态和行为变化，这些变化提高了它们抵御未来攻击的能力。具体来说，诱导涉及尾鳍的扩大，以及同时从几乎半透明到斑驳的红色和黑色的鳍的颜色变化。在变形状态下，蝌蚪据说不那么容易受到攻击，因为华丽的尾巴可以将攻击从身体本身转移开。转化后的蝌蚪也不那么活跃，因此也不那么显眼。这种现象的生态学受到了广泛的关注，但到目前为止，介导的化学物质仍然未知。本论文研究的重点是表征那些触发灰树蛙蝌蚪诱导性防御的物质。研究结果将有助于揭示形态和行为可塑性的进化和生态学。

Dissertation Research: Inducible Defenses and Plasticity in Tadpoles: Chracterization of Chemical Alarm CuesDr. Thomas Eisner & Jacqualine GrantMany organisms go about their daily business unprepared for danger. However, some can anticipate hazards by cueing in on the environmental stimuli that presage peril. In the gray treefrog (Hyla versicolor) chemical alarm cues are released from the skin of injured tadpoles. These cues induce morphological and behavioral changes in conspecific tadpoles, changes that improve their ability to withstand future attacks. Specifically, the induction involves enlargement of the tailfin, and a simultaneous color change of the fin from nearly translucent to a mottled red and black. In its transformed state, the tadpole is said to be less vulnerable, because the gaudy tail deflects attacks away from the body itself. The transformed tadpole is also less active and, as a result, less conspicuous. The ecology of this phenomenon has received much attention, but so far the mediating chemicals remain unknown. This dissertation research is focused on characterizing those substances that trigger inducible defenses in gray treefrog tadpoles. The results will shed light on the evolution and ecology of morphological and behavioral plasticity.