{
  "abstract": "Although interspecific morphological diversity in aquatic animals often reflects swimming-related functional trade-offs, whether intraspecific morphological variation, often generated by phenotypic plasticity, also reflects similar trade-offs remains unclear. We tested this hypothesis using Rana pirica tadpoles, which exhibit a dragonfly-induced phenotype with a deeper tail and a salamander-induced phenotype with both a deeper tail and a swollen body. Fast-start swimming speed was highest in the dragonfly-induced phenotype, intermediate in the salamander-induced phenotype and lowest in the non-induced phenotype. Because swimming speed is influenced by both morphology and body-motion effort, we quantified motion–speed efficiency (Ems) as an index of morphological effects on swimming performance. Both predator-induced phenotypes exhibited higher Ems than the non-induced phenotype, despite similar tail-motion quantity among phenotypes, with the highest value in the dragonfly-induced phenotype. These results indicate that the shared deeper tail more efficiently converts body-motion effort into swimming speed, whereas in the salamander-induced phenotype, this function is partly offset by increased hydrodynamic drag caused by its swollen body, a morphology that protects against swallowing by gape-limited salamander larvae. These results demonstrate that predator-induced morphologies involve functional trade-offs between swimming escape and physical protection and suggest that such trade-offs contribute to morphological diversification through phenotypic plasticity.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Graduate School of Environmental Sciences, Hokkaido University 1 , Sapporo, Japan",
    "Graduate School of Information Science, University of Hyogo 3 , Kobe, Japan",
    "Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University 2 , Sapporo, Japan",
    "Wakayama Experimental Forest, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University 4 , Wakayama, Japan"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Naru Matsuura",
      "orcid": "0009-0003-1705-8065"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Raj R. Malinda",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1578-6264"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Shin Fukuda"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Hiroaki Kawashima"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Osamu Kishida",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2663-8155"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bfj4m8aqyky80.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1098/rsos.260411",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13682424",
  "id": "bfj4m8aqyky80",
  "issns": [
    "2054-5703"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/260411/483632/Predator-induced-morphological-traits-determine",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1105|Animal Behavior and Reproduction"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7215105878",
  "pdf_url": "https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article-pdf/doi/10.1098/rsos.260411/6170395/rsos.260411.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13682424",
  "pmid": "42904176",
  "published": "2026-10-14",
  "publisher": "The Royal Society",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bfj4m8aqyky80.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:45Z",
      "native_id": "10.1098/rsos.260411",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/260411/483632/Predator-induced-morphological-traits-determine"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:53Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42904176",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42904176"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:1105|Animal Behavior and Reproduction",
      "subfield": "ecology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Predator-induced morphological traits determine escape performance in a larval amphibian species",
  "title_text": "Predator-induced morphological traits determine escape performance in a larval amphibian species",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:53Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/bfj4m8aqyky80",
  "venue": "Royal Society Open Science",
  "versions": []
}