Not sure if theis belongs here, sorry.

SCIENTISTS may have uncovered the 'silver bullet' in the battle against WA's cane toad invasion.
Researchers from the University of Sydney have found that cane toads release a chemical which stunts the growth of competing tadpoles and reduces their chance of survival.

Older tadpoles release their poison on new cane toad egg clutches to better their own chance of survival.

Cane toad expert Professor Richard Shine from the University of Sydney said the species ‘speak’ to each other using pheromones which don't appear to affect native animals and this newly discovered toxin could be exploited and used as the latest weapon in the fight to stop the invasion.

“If you wanted to control an invading species the ideal silver bullet might be some major chemical that affects that species but doesn’t have any affect on any others,” Prof Shine said.


It turns out cane toads have spent the last several million years designing such a chemical themselves because competition is such a big deal between cane toads.”

The invaders, which kill native species, are 30km west of Kununurra and moving south after leaving a trail of destruction across Queensland and the Top End.


Prof Shine made the discovery while studying waterborne chemical cues used by tadpoles from the Northern Territory.  His team found that tadpoles exposed to the chemical for even a short period of time grew to only half the size of their unexposed counterparts.

"We don't know where they are producing the chemical from,  they do have some specialised cells in their skin that produce chemicals... the chemical responsible may be one that we have already been looking at and identified from earlier work we have been doing," Prof Shine said.

Native to Central and South America, cane toads were introduced to Queensland in 1935 to control beetles.

While the species was largely unsuccessful at reducing cane beetles, the animals thrived in Australia, evolving into bigger, stronger creatures and wiping out native species as they spread across the country.

Prof Shine said the next step is to work out how the toads make their poison and if it affects native species.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/special-features/new-weapon-in-cane-toad-fight/s...

gizmo_2655 wrote on Sep 1^st, 2011 at 4:12pm:


Better watch out for all those fours or sixes then huh.
or some idiot can try getting cheap highs by licking a cane toad!

muso wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2011 at 10:54am:


Yes it effects other species. Any Animal, native, wild or domestic that eats them.
I have read about dogs that get high from licking the toad.

muso wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2011 at 11:13am:



Maybe it is another case of damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Quote:


Get caught doing that kind of crap and you risk being hit with a hefty fine.

Deborahmac09 wrote on Sep 2^nd, 2011 at 2:09pm:


I didn't say it was better to poison them.

Personally, I don't mind cane toads. During the summer months I have a couple of house toads that charge about the place eating spiders and insects. They are way more effective than getting out the bug spray.

i like cane toads

barnaby joe wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2011 at 12:28pm:





You're easily teased, Jalane