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A Plague of Frogs--Study Questions
Chapter 10 – “Famous Last Days of the Golden Toad”
1. What is NARCAM?
National Reporting Center for Amphibian Malformations (155)
2. Explain why scientists asserted that the term malformation was a more descriptive and appropriate adjective for the frogs.
Malformation implies a developmental origin of the abnormal morphologies as compared to deformities.(156)
3. How did the inclusion of negative findings in the investigation make Johnson’s admission tacit?
Without explicitly admitting that the frequency of normal frequencies was understated, publishing data on normal frog populations conveyed the message that “normal was still the norm”.(156)
4. Explain the role that polymelia could contribute to evolution.
Van Halen implied that polymelia, extra legs, could be a natural occurrence in evolutionary cycles.(157)
5. Distinguish between two different baselines that could be established in the study.
A baseline of abnormal frogs in normal populations versus the frequency of abnormal populations in the world should be considered to develop a relevant study. (158)
6. Cite two similarities between the Minnesota and Vermont environments in which malformed frogs were found.
They were locations that normally did not hold water and they had farm run off from dairy farms.(160)
7. How does rainfall affect reproduction rate?
Additional aqueous environments provided more substrate for reproductive processes yielding larger populations.
8. What protocol would you use in developing a methodical field investigation?
Answers will vary.(163)
9. Explore how a frog’s ectothermy affects interactions within an environment.
Environmental temperature changes affect a frogs body temperature which conserves metabolic energy. Answers will vary.(163)
10. What do the skin pattern irregularities indicate?
These pattern irregularities are indicative of legs not having developed properly.(165)
11. Why would scientists have to trace a problem back in time?
Metamorphic frogs with deformities actually acquire the agents that change gene expression much early in developmental life as compared to when they are phenotypically expressed.(166)
12. Why did Mumley avoid answering direct questions about his collection data and numbers.?
Answers will vary.(166-168)
13. Compare contrast the differences between the findings of Converse and Coles.
Answers will vary. (171)
14. Consider the parasitic cycle as you describe the impact parasites could have on a frog.
Answers will vary. (172)
15. What role did “weightless opinion “ play in this investigation?
Answers will vary.(176)
16. Why would Helgen have taped conversations with Souder?
Answers will vary.(175)
17. What did Bowers contribute to investigation?
Bowers attempted to make sense of the data that had been turned into the lab.(175)
18. What was a critical error in setting up the study sites?
Farms were left out of the equation.(175)
19. How is a hot spot defined in this investigation?
They are departures from the norm.(178)
20. What does “choosing the lesser of two evils” imply?
Answers will vary.(180)
21. Cite possible political repercussions of these investigative studies.
Answers will vary.(183-185)
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