Presenter(s)

Adelyn Hughes

Comments

9:00-10:15, Kennedy Union Ballroom

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Description

Blanchard’s Cricket Frog, found across the Midwest and Southwestern United States including southwestern Ohio, exhibits a color polymorphism, but reasons for the evolution of these different color patterns remain unclear. In a summer research project at the Berry Summer Thesis Institute Program, I investigated whether varied color patterns aid in camouflage and predator avoidance. Assisted by Dr. Hantak’s lab, I used non-toxic colored clay to create over 600 frog models mimicking Blanchard’s Cricket Frog; half of which were brown with a green stripe, and half being uniformly brown. Placed at Spring Run Conservation Area near Dayton, 414 models were positioned one meter apart along transects near ponds where these frogs reside. After five days, the models were collected and then analyzed for predator marks. Trends in the data indicate that color may play an important role in predation. However, at this time, with a low sample size, we lack sufficient power to form strong conclusions. Additional data will be collected in the fall of 2024 and spring of 2025 to increase support of our findings.

Publication Date

4-23-2025

Project Designation

Honors Thesis

Primary Advisor

Dorian Borbonus, Maggie M. Hantak

Primary Advisor's Department

Biology

Keywords

Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

Does the existence of multiple color variants aid in predator avoidance for a common frog in southwestern Ohio?

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