Predator-induced changes in the chemical defence of a vertebrate.

Hettyey A; Üveges B; Móricz ÁM; Drahos L; Capon RJ; Van Buskirk J; Tóth Z; Bókony V

doi:10.1111/1365-2656.13083

Back

Journal article

Predator-induced changes in the chemical defence of a vertebrate.

Hettyey A Lendület Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
Üveges B Lendület Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
Móricz ÁM Department of Pathophysiology, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
Drahos L MS Proteomics Research Group, Institute of Organic Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
Capon RJ Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.
Van Buskirk J Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Tóth Z Lendület Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
Bókony V Lendület Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.

2019-08-14

Published in:

The Journal of animal ecology. - 2019

English 1. Inducible defences are ubiquitous in the animal kingdom, but little is known about facultative changes in chemical defences in response to predators, especially so in vertebrates. 2. We tested for predator-induced changes in toxin production of larval common toads (Bufo bufo), which are known to synthesize bufadienolide compounds. 3. The experiment included larvae originating from three permanent and three temporary ponds reared in the presence or absence of chemical cues of three predators: dragonfly larvae, newts or fish. 4. Tadpoles raised with chemical cues of predation risk produced higher numbers of bufadienolide compounds and larger total bufadienolide quantities than predator-naive conspecifics. Further, the increase in intensity of chemical defence was greatest in response to fish, weakest to newts and intermediate to dragonfly larvae. Tadpoles originating from temporary and permanent ponds did not differ in their baseline toxin content or in the magnitude of their induced chemical responses. 5. These results provide the first compelling evidence for predator-induced changes in chemical defence of a vertebrate that may have evolved to enhance survival under predation risk.

Language