Avoidance response of post-metamorphic anurans to cues of injured conspecifics and predators

Despite the widespread occurrence of chemically mediated antipredator respo nses among larval anurans, little is known concerning whether anurans utili ze chemical cues after metamorphosis. Larval western toads (Bufo boreas) an d red-legged frogs (Rana aurora) both exhibit antipredator responses when e xposed to alarm cues of injured conspecifics. There is some debate as to wh ether larval Cascades frogs (Rana cascadae) show a similar response. in thi s study, we documented that toads and red-legged frogs respond to cues of i njured conspecifics after metamorphosis, while Cascades frogs do not The av oidance response of toad tadpoles to cues of predatory garter snakes (Thamn ophis sirtalis) is also retained through metamorphosis. These results indic ate the importance of considering chemical cues in studies of antipredator defences of terrestrial amphibians.