Cane toads in Australia develop longer legs

Wednesday, February 15th, 2006

Cane toads, which were introduced to Australia 70 years ago to control insect pests in sugar can fields, have developed longer legs to enable them to invade more territory:

‘We find that toads with longer legs can not only move faster and are the first to arrive in new areas, but also that those at the front have longer legs than toads in older populations,’ Shine said in a report in the journal Nature.

The researchers studied toads leading the invasion about 60 km (37 miles) east of the northern city of Darwin. They discovered that the first toads to arrive in new areas had longer hind legs than those that came later.

The scientists believe the toads evolved longer legs to conquer new territory to get to better food supplies.

Near the city of Darwin? Hmm…

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Cane toads in Australia develop longer legs

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