Katheryn M. Junglas, MSU Department of Biology
Minot ND, 58707
Rana pipiens Malformation Assessment
Range in North Dakota
Taken from Hoberg and Gause,
Deformed Frog sites
North Dakota Malformations
USGS- NWHC Information Report2001
Tadpoles development
Normal Bone Structure
X-Ray of Bone Structure
Deformed leg structures
False elbow and Double bones
No Regression of tail
Missing the Right eye
Salamander from our lab
Possible causes for deformities
• UV-B Radiation
• Chemical Agents
• Parasites
-Ribeiroia
-Alaria
• Interactions
Sexing frogs (female)
Sexing frogs (male)
Hayes (2002)
Hermaphroditic frog
Atrazine effects-normal histology- female
Atrazine-normal male
Atrazine-ovateste
Normal Bone Structure
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Location
SUL (mm)
0
10
20
30
40
50
sexSnout Uro-style Length (mm)
Statistics
• No significant difference in male and females
• No Significant difference in lengths between sites
• Healthy Ratio of Males to females 13:20
Sexing animals (males)
Assessment
• No deformities were found
• Mean of Female juvenile length- 42.2 mm
• Mean of Male juvenile length- 41.4 mm
• Mass of Gonads- in progress
• Skeletal development- so far good development of skeleton and cartilage
Why We Should Continue to Observe
•Small sample size
•Teratogens and carcinogens in other organisms
•Since no malformations yet, we can analyze what is or isn’t here, and the sooner we notice something, the easier to find out what that is.
•Frogs are Cool!
Acknowledgements
• Dr. Christopher Beachy at Minot State
• Dr. Cory Rubin, Project Manager Assistant
• Regional Director Richard A. Coleman
• All the staff at Upper Souris Wildlife Refuge
• Fish-Wildlife Service Cost Share Agreement, grant #62680-4-J001
• Minot State University, Division of Biology