Evaluation of phenotypic plasticity in Rana temporaria tadpole development

Traditionally, the study of evolution has focused on heritable variation, because selection on non-heritable phenotypic variation was deemed non-important for its inability to cause evolutionary responses such as diversification of lineages. Recently however, it has been suggested that also environmentally induced phenotypic variation such as phenotypic plasticity can play an important role in adaptive responses resulting in diversification. The purpose of this study is to investigate the importance of phenotypic plasticity for the diversification of lineages, using life history, morphological traits, and genomic profiling during post embryonic development in plastic and non-plastic genotypes of the common frog Rana temporaria. Six animals each originating from four different islands were reared in either constant or reduced water conditions and hepatic mRNA levels of Gosner stage 37 animals evaluated by MAGEX DNA array analysis.