jueves, 25 de febrero de 2010

Climate change becomes promiscuous to a monogamous frog in Peru

There in the Amazon jungle of Peru, a poisonous frog species that, because of climate change, has left to throw practice monogamy in promiscuous attitude to the hunt for suitors that guarantee their survival.

Explains the professor of the Natural History Museum of Peru Ricardo Palma University, Victor Morales, these frogs have changed their reproductive behavior, primarily due to decreased water in the ponds they inhabit.
Climate change and habitat destruction are behind the phenomenon that Morales in March detailed in the publication 'The American Naturalist', with researchers Jason Brown and Kyle Summers.
Most frogs are polygamous

According to the professor, most frogs are polygamous but this particular species, called 'Ranitomeya variabilis', only a couple pairs with beneficial environmental conditions, ie when there is enough water in the tanks of bromeliads where you live.

For thousands of years, the mother only made one or two eggs and neither she nor the male left the home when it came to care for the young.

However, current environmental constraints have changed this behavior, so now think only males and females to ensure their offspring and have been reproduced more individuals.

To demonstrate this new stage adaptation in frogs, Professor Peruvian conducted in recent years, analysis of water and larvae in the tropical forests of Tarapoto and the conservation area of the Cordillera Escalera in northern Peru.
The aforementioned poison frog is abundant in these forested areas where it has been found promiscuity traditionally monogamous species because genetic differences have been found within the same brood.
Included in the red list of threatened species

Toxic skin and colorful, these amphibians are prey diurnal snakes and other predators, but now they face a hostile environment in which the tadpoles are dying and even eat each other over the lack of space and water.

Peruvian biologist Marina Rosales said that global warming and the destruction of the Amazon particularly affect the flora and fauna of wet environments, including this frog is found, including in the red list of threatened species.

In his view, this scientific discovery, apparently "anecdotal" should be interpreted as an indicator that environmental conditions are changing, forcing the amphibians to be more concerned than before about leaving a larger number of offspring and thereby ensure the survival of their genes.

Faced with this predicament, much like Professor Rosales Morales found that amphibians, like other species, they adapt and fight for their survival, but this flexibility is limited and in any case, it is not beneficial in the long term.

Therefore, the specialist of the National Natural Protected Areas by the State (SERNANP) warned that this is not an isolated case, as humans must take actions necessary to mitigate adverse effects on climate and biodiversity .

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