Crane Hailey R, Rollins Lee A, Shine Richard, Brown Gregory P
Environmental Studies Program, Brandeis University, Waltham, USA.
Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Integr Zool. 2025 Jan 10. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12941.
The invasion of cane toads (Rhinella marina) across tropical Australia has resulted in the rapid evolution of traits that enable higher rates of dispersal, and that adapt toads to hot dry climates. In anurans, a larger heart facilitates both locomotor activity and desiccation tolerance. Heart size is also often affected, either directly or indirectly, by parasite infections. To test the effects of invasion history and parasite exposure on heart size, we studied common garden-reared toads whose parents were sourced from diverse locations, and experimentally exposed them to larvae of a nematode lungworm (Rhabdias pseudosphaerocephala). Offspring of invasion-front parents had larger hearts than did conspecifics from long-established populations. Exposure to infective lungworm larvae decreased heart mass in toads from all populations. Our study suggests that cardiovascular function, like other traits, has evolved rapidly during the toad invasion; and that lungworm parasites can modify the cardiovascular function and hence aerobic capacity of their host.
海蟾蜍（Rhinella marina）在澳大利亚热带地区的入侵导致了一些性状的快速进化，这些性状能够实现更高的扩散速率，并使蟾蜍适应炎热干燥的气候。在无尾两栖动物中，较大的心脏有助于运动活动和耐干燥能力。心脏大小也常常直接或间接受寄生虫感染的影响。为了测试入侵历史和寄生虫暴露对心脏大小的影响，我们研究了在共同环境中饲养的蟾蜍，其亲本来自不同地点，并通过实验将它们暴露于一种线虫肺吸虫（Rhabdias pseudosphaerocephala）的幼虫中。入侵前沿亲本的后代比来自长期建立种群的同种个体有更大的心脏。暴露于感染性肺吸虫幼虫会降低所有种群蟾蜍的心脏质量。我们的研究表明，心血管功能与其他性状一样，在蟾蜍入侵过程中迅速进化；并且肺吸虫寄生虫可以改变其宿主的心血管功能，从而影响有氧能力。
