school lab final project

[victor]

hello all i am required to do a lab final for my biology class that is due may 11 and i have decided to do a growth rate comparisson between an aqutic frog and a terrestrial frog. but i need help who :? is selling tadpoles cause king snake isnt and i need to know what two tadpoles from each group will develop a little faster i dont need them to fully develop.

 

[dtknow]

What do you mean by aquatic vs terrestrial frog?

biological supply companies(www.aquaculturestore.com) should be able to hook you up with tadpoles. You could use Xenopus for the aquatic sp.

I think it would be a much more viable(and interesting) experiment to experiment with food, temperature, stress, plant cover, stocking density etc. etc. etc.

 

[victor]

thank you and what i meant was under the right conditions which tadpole would morf faster a terrestrial or an aquatic

 

[halfwaynowhere]

while I don't know much about frogs, I think that there are a lot more factors than "terrestrial or aquatic". Each individual species could have different growth rates. Each individual specimen too, for that matter. And the "right conditions" would vary greatly for each species. There are a lot of variables in an experiment like this to take into consideration, and I don't think you'd get very exciting results without a larger sample than just one or two specimens from each of your categories.

 

[GiantVinegaroon]

I think carolina biological supply (www.carolina.com) has some African clawed frogs that are injected with hormones to grow faster. just be sure they get a good home after the project!

 

[davidbarber1]

while I don't know much about frogs, I think that there are a lot more factors than "terrestrial or aquatic". Each individual species could have different growth rates. Each individual specimen too, for that matter. And the "right conditions" would vary greatly for each species. There are a lot of variables in an experiment like this to take into consideration, and I don't think you'd get very exciting results without a larger sample than just one or two specimens from each of your categories.

I agree. To many variables. But have fun anyways and good luck on your project.

David

 

[dtknow]

thank you and what i meant was under the right conditions which tadpole would morf faster a terrestrial or an aquatic

Agreed with other posters above. I think that with your resources and due date it is not a viable experiment.(besides, their are many terrestrial and many aquatic species). See my first post.

 

[arachyd]

Maybe you could narrow down the variables by choosing a specific area and using several species from that area. This would eliminate variables such as rainfall, humidity, available kinds of food and temperature. It would be much easier to draw conclusions about growth rates with less differing environmental factors. I think you should also consider percentages rather than actual size/weight increases because of species like bullfrogs and tree frogs which live in the same areas but have huge differences like the timespans from hatching to emerging as frogs and in their final adult sizes.

 

[dtknow]

Arachyd: that could work in theory. But due to microhabitat use by tadpoles you could never say you are providing best conditions for all of them. I still think that is too difficult of an experiment to get reasonable conclusions.

 

[dtknow]

Why not do an experiment on the speed of growth/size at morphing of 1 or 2 different species raised at different densities? Or maybe with one group lower the water level by a certain amt each week and the other group keep it constant. Or do water changes for one group and not for the other. etc.

 

[victor]

thank you guys for all you help! i really appriciate it. keep it coming i will have my decision by friday. so all the help i can get will be great.

 

[kitty_b]

I agree that a much more viable (and less stressful) experiment would be growth rates based on density per tank. You would have to make sure to account for the numbers in each tank so that a proportional amount of tadpole food is given (based on the number of tadpoles rather than the size of the tank itself) to rule out issues of food competition.

Just a thought, since I work with Xenopus (laevis and tropicalis)- There are a number of states that require a permit in order to receive Xenopus. According to Nasco (www.enasco.com, who sells us our frogs), these states are Arizona, California, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.

But honestly, doing X. laevis would be the easiest. They grow fast (with the right conditions- I have a great formula for water that's the right salt content and pH) and they're a lot tougher than some of the other species, like X. tropicalis. The other easy species would be the American Bullfrog. If you'd like, I can refer you to a couple amphibian forums that may help in acquiring them. More sites with X. laevis are http://www.xenopus.com and www.xenopusone.com, which tend to be cheaper than Nasco.

Oh, and just a tip for if you do a project with tadpoles- do NOT use gloves (latex, vinyl, or nitrile) when touching their water. A recently published paper showed that the chemicals/fixatives on them is toxic even after rising the gloves. Washing your bare hands before touching their water is best, and don't ever touch them/pick them up with hands or a net. Always use a cup.