Wild and common garden cane toad skin microbiomes

Cane toads (Rhinella marina) have evolved changes in their behavior, morphology, and physiology in their <100-year invasion across northern Australia. In this study, we assess whether divergence of skin bacterial microbiomes on toads from sites across northern Australia are affected by host genotype or habitat. We used skin swab samples from wild toads from four sites to quantify the amount of divergence of bacterial communities. We then used a common garden experiment to detect whether those changes among sites' communities are found in offspring when raised at a single location. The MiSeq sequences are from skin swab samples of wild, relocated parental, and common garden offspring toads collected in September 2017.