Proximate mechanisms of costly developmental plasticity in invasive cane toads Data and R Script

Hatchlings of invasive cane toads (<i>Rhinella marina</i>) in Australia respond facultatively to chemical cues of non-feeding cannibalistic conspecific tadpoles by accelerating development, but as a consequence experience reduced growth, development and survival in the subsequent tadpole stage. This response to perceived predation risk (developmental acceleration of embryos) is rare among amphibians, and for cane toads, has several unknown aspects. We conducted a series of laboratory experiments to investigate (1) is the cue that induces developmental acceleration of hatchlings located in the skin of cane toad tadpoles, (2) are the carry-over costs due to accelerated embryonic development <i>per se</i> or are they specific to developmental acceleration induced by conspecific tadpole cues, and (3) can the costs of this developmental plasticity be mitigated by availability of food resources at critical times during early development.

澳大利亚境内入侵性海蟾蜍（*Rhinella marina*）的孵化幼体，可通过加速发育的方式对非觅食型同类相食同种蝌蚪的化学信号做出兼性响应，但该响应会导致其后续蝌蚪阶段的生长、发育与存活率出现显著下降。这种针对感知捕食风险（胚胎发育加速）的响应在两栖动物中极为罕见，且针对海蟾蜍而言，该响应仍存在诸多未知维度。我们开展了一系列室内控制实验，旨在探究三个核心科学问题：（1）诱导孵化幼体发育加速的信号是否存在于海蟾蜍蝌蚪的皮肤组织中？（2）该后遗代价是源于胚胎发育加速本身，还是仅由同种蝌蚪信号诱导的发育加速所特异性引发？（3）在早期发育的关键时段，食物资源的可获得性是否能够缓解这种发育可塑性所带来的适应性代价？