Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Publication Date

Spring 2024

College

Sciences and Mathematics, College of

Department

Biology, Department of

BURS Faculty Advisor

Chase Kinsey

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Abstract

The African Clawed Frog, Xenopus laevis, is a species native to sub-Saharan Africa but has invaded the United States, Europe, and Asia. X. laevis is fully aquatic and utilizes burst swimming for quick escapes from predators while undergoing longer durations of swimming or jumping while moving between bodies of water. As an invasive species, it’s likely X. laevis has more generalized locomotor abilities compared to other species in ecological niches. This study aimed to better understand how various water flow speeds affect the velocity and endurance of X. laevis. We hypothesized that because X. laevis are highly invasive across a variety of habitats, their endurance will not decrease drastically when faced with increasing flow speeds. Additionally, we predicted that as the water flow increases, the X. laevis will favor velocity over endurance. For this study, each frog was placed into a customized flow tank which contained an impeller producing no, low, and fast water flow. The frogs were tapped lightly to encourage movement until the frogs reached teir exhaustion point, "which allowed for the recording of endurance. Videos were analyzed in MatLab using a custom DLTdv7 script to calculate velocity. Understanding how changes in water flow speed and their correlation with endurance and velocity may provide insight into how X. laevis has successfully invaded new habitats.

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