We found negative carryover effects of chronic exposure of larvae to ammonium on adult inflammatory response, which could imply a greater susceptibility to pathogens and parasites. However, this damage is only true for males, which, according to the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis, could be a consequence of a testosterone-triggered impairment of male immune function. In disagreement with our prediction, however, we detected no differences in the inflammatory response of agrosystem frogs to phytohemagglutinin as compared with natural habitat conspecifics. Leer más. Noticia en castellano.

El sapo común o, mejor dicho, el sapo común espinoso (Bufo spinosus, recientemente diferenciado del sapo común, Bufo bufo) es cada vez menos común en España. Son múltiples las causas de su lento, pero progresivo declive, pero ahora tenemos más evidencias de que el hongo patógeno de anfibios introducido de Asia podría ser aún más peligroso para esta especie de lo que creíamos. Una nueva investigación indica que, al contrario de lo que pensábamos, los adultos de esta especie, y no sólo los recién metamorfoseados, también podrían estar muriendo por causa de la enfermedad fúngica. Leer más. Ir al artículo original.

This work highlights the complex evolutionary history that shaped the current genetic composition of high mountain populations, and underscores the importance of using a multilocus approach to better infer the dynamics of population divergence. Leer más.

The results support a strong trend towards herbivory in this species with plants representing almost 74% of the diet occurrences in contrast to the 26% of animal prey. Remarkably, the plant fraction of the diet remained stable across localities but varied with size and mass in males. As males grew bigger and heavier, they significantly increased their plant matter intake. Likely, larger bodies and abdomens allowed allocating longer and more complex digestive tracts harbouring intestinal flora to better decompose plant organic compounds. This allowed heavier animals to have a richer diet regime. However, diet richness and composition were not affected by either sex or size, while the locality had a significant effect on both diet components likely in response to local variation in prey availability.  Leer más.