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A Plague of Frogs--Study Questions
Chapter 11 – “Bad Weather”
1. Discuss Merrell’s reasoning in suggesting that the cause of deformities had a “large environmental component”.
Answers will vary.(190-191)
2. How would Merrell’s recording of wounded animals as “normal” affect our understanding of the process of natural selection?
Answers will vary.(191)
3. How would breeding ground choice affect the overall fitness of a frog population?
Frog tadpoles are reliant upon their parents choosing the “best” breeding environment (volume of water) for their adaptive survival.(194)
4. Why is it advantageous for field collectors to develop a “search image”?
Frogs are well adapted for camouflaging themselves so that collectors must develop and fine tune their skills in order to recognize them in nature.(196)
5. Given that frogs are “ecological opportunists”, consider the impact of global warming on reproductive cycling and how this would affect frog populations.
Answers will vary. (199)
6. What was significant about deformities showing up in frogs that had been raised in cages?
This is indicative of something present in the water that would directly cause the abnormalities.(201)
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