biological sciences HONOURs 2014 - The University of Sydney

EVOLUTION AND
ECOLOGY OF CANE
TOADS
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Research Interests
I study the ecology and evolution of reptiles and amphibians
– partly because they are so damn interesting, and partly
because we need to understand these creatures if we are to
have any hope of conserving their populations. My studies
span the range from tropical snakes and invasive cane toads,
through to endangered snakes and lizards in New South Wales.
I run a major field station – a small village near Humpty Doo,
partway between Darwin and Kakadu in the Northern Territory.
We have houses, flats, offices and laboratory space, and it has
proved to be a very effective base for Honours projects.
Honours projects
Projects are designed jointly with the student – we talk about
what you’re interested in, and look for ways to construct a
project that fits those criteria while also integrating with our
main research programs. Potential projects include:
1. Rapid evolution in cane toads. Our work has shown that the
toads have evolved dramatically over their 77-year history in
Australia. Toads at the increasingly fast-moving invasion front
are very different from toads in Queensland (where the animals
were first introduced, in 1935) in terms of morphology (e.g.,
Professor Rick
Shine
Room 209, Heydon-
Laurence Building A08
T: (02) 9351 3772
E: rick.shine@sydney.
edu.au
relative leg length), behavior (dispersal rates and tactics), and physiology (immunobiology, water
balance). Our pilot studies hint that invasion-front toads also may be very distinctive in other
ways, including “personality” (boldness/shyness continuum) and cognition (learning ability). We
have barely scratched the surface in terms of traits to study, and I am keen to extend that work.
2. Novel approaches to cane toad control. We have shown that cane toad tadpoles
communicate using specific pheromones, and that the tadpoles of native frogs do not respond
to those chemicals. We are zeroing in on the chemicals involved, and have already managed
to identify three types of pheromones that are produced by cane toad tadpoles. We need a lot
more lab and field studies to fine-tune our understanding of these responses, and to evaluate
their usefulness in toad control. More generally, this work allows us to examine the evolution
of species-specific communication systems, and their potential for use in highly targeted
environmentally friendly biocontrol.
Left: Cane toad, courtesy of Samantha McCann
(Honours student 2013) supervised by Rick Shine (above).