Genetically modified, cannibal tadpoles may be the solution to Australia’s nearly century-old invasive cane toad problem.

A tadpole (stage 59, Xenopus tropicalis) at the beginning of metamorphosis (left) and a froglet (stage 66, X. tropicalis) after metamorphosis (right). The skeleton undergoes dramatic remodeling ...

The discovery is helping to clear up a long-standing mystery as to when frogs and toads evolved their iconic two-stage life-cycle. "The research demonstrates that a tadpole stage followed by a ...

To investigate how this hormone might prepare juvenile amphibians for metamorphosis, the team analyzed levels of mRNA transcripts for leptin receptor proteins and for the hormone itself in tadpoles of ...

which ranges from zero for embryos to 42 for tadpoles on the brink of metamorphosis. An adult wood frog. Credit: Logan Billet An aggregation of wood frog egg masses in a pond following spring ...

Some amphibians breathe through their skin! Metamorphosis – The changes that some animals go through as they grow. The change from a tadpole to frog is an example of a metamorphosis. Omnivores ...

Wood frog tadpoles in infected ponds show faster growth and development, possibly to survive ranavirus or escape before dying.

By removing a gene to stunt cane toads at their tadpole stage, scientists hope they may have found a way to make the invader ...