Data from: The thermal dependency of locomotor performance evolves rapidly within an invasive species

Biological invasions can stimulate rapid shifts in organismal performance, via both plasticity and adaptation. We can distinguish between these two proximate mechanisms by rearing offspring from populations under identical conditions, and measuring their locomotor abilities in standardized trials. We collected adult cane toads (Rhinella marina) from invasive populations that inhabit regions of Australia with different climatic conditions. We bred those toads, and raised their offspring under common-garden conditions before testing their locomotor performance. At high (but not low) temperatures, offspring of individuals from a hotter location (northwestern Australia) outperformed offspring of conspecifics from a cooler location (northeastern Australia). This disparity indicates that, within less than 100 years, thermal performance in cane toads has adapted to the novel abiotic challenges that cane toads have encountered during their invasion of tropical Australia.生物入侵可通过表型可塑性（plasticity）与适应性（adaptation）两种途径，引发生物体性能的快速改变。我们可通过将不同种群的后代置于相同环境中饲养，并在标准化实验中测定其运动能力，来区分这两种近因机制。本研究从栖息于澳大利亚不同气候区域的入侵种群中采集了成年蔗蟾（Rhinella marina），对其进行繁育后，将后代置于同质园（common-garden）实验条件下饲养，随后测试其运动性能。结果显示，在较高（而非较低）温度下，来自澳大利亚西北部较热区域的蔗蟾后代，其运动性能优于来自澳大利亚东北部较冷区域的同种蔗蟾后代。这一差异表明，在不到100年的时间里，蔗蟾的热性能已适应其入侵热带澳大利亚过程中遭遇的新型非生物胁迫。