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Sex of Tads?

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1.8K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  dragonfrog  
#1 ·
Ok I got in a debate with my english professor about the sex of poison dart frogs. He claims that PDFs along with other frogs have the ability to self reproduce: meaning that each frog carries both sets of sexual organs. I asked where he heard this. He claims that he read that these frogs do not need both the male and female for reproduction and the tads are asexual.

Is his reading correct or does it stand firm that PDFs do need both male and female? I have read only the latter but wanted to be 100% sure to relay that information. Anyone know what sex tads start out as? Are they like alligators or crocodiles in which temperature has an effect on the sexual outcome of the tadpole? I found it interesting and would like to hear what you have to say.


Ian
 
E
#2 ·
Anurans do not have temperature sex determination (TSD) (in fact there are no known amphibians that use this method at this time).

They are not parthenogenic (although for a neat discussion on parthenogensis check out EVIDENCE FOR AUTOMATIC PARTHENOGENESIS IN BISEXUAL SNAKES
Gordon W. Schuett, Department of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona Philio J. Fernandez, Department of Biology, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Arizona David Chiszar, Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
Hobart M. Smith, Department of EPO Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder (you can see it here (scroll down the page http://www.holzking.net/kyherpsoc/viewt ... 1e0c44e1b9 )


Development of the sex organs typically occurs at metamorphosis (see Tadpole, The Biology of Anuran Larva, 1999, University of Chicago Press) and is genetically determined however exposure to endocrine disruption can disrupt the developmental pathway resulting in the expression of the wrong sex (genetically one sex, physically another).

Ed
 
#3 ·
Interesting. I knew there was a species of snake that did the asexual reproduction( Something like a Ferde lance or so off New Guinea? I saw it on O'shea's Big Adventure). Thank you Ed for your reply and I will relay that tid bit of info to my prof. Oh yeah, I knew it was going to be you Ed that would answer first. I am in awe of your extensive array of knowledge.
 
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