|
||
| ||
|
Deformed hind limb seen on adult female tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) during the 2009 breeding season in Southeastern Michigan. Both anthropogenic disturbances and natural environmental variation during the larval stage can disrupt salamander development and cause amphibian leg deformities like this. Disruptions during the larval stage from anthropogenic pollutants can also prevent normal development of reproductive organs in amphibians, resulting in amphibians that cannot reproduce. Despite the deformed hind limb, the female salamander photographed here seemed healthy and appeared full of eggs. Hopefully she produced plenty of offspring this year!
|
||
 @BenardMF
|
| |
|
All text and photographs © Michael F. Benard |
| |
| Tweet |
| ||||||||||||
