When it comes to predicting earthquakes, toads — warts and all — may be an asset.
British researchers observed a mass exodus of toads from a breeding site in Italy five days before a major tremor struck, suggesting the amphibians may be able to sense environmental changes, imperceptible to humans, that foretell a coming quake.
Since ancient times, anecdotes and folklore have linked unusual animal behavior to cataclysmic events like earthquakes, but hard evidence has been scarce. A new study by researchers from the Open University is one of the first to document animal behavior before, during and after an earthquake.
The scientists were studying the common toad — bufo bufo — at a breeding colony in central Italy when they noticed a sharp decline in the number of animals at the site. Days later, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit, killing hundreds of people and badly damaging the town of L’Aquila.
The findings suggested that toads are able to detect pre-seismic cues such as the release of gases and charged particles, and use these as a form of earthquake early warning system.
Researchers were initially puzzled by the toads’ disappearance in the middle of the breeding season and tracked the population in the days that followed. They found that 96 percent of males — who vastly outnumber females at breeding spots — abandoned the site, 46 miles (74 kilometers) from the quake’s epicenter, five days before it struck on April 6, 2009.
The number of toads at the site fell to zero three days before the quake.
[Source]
Chapter: Animals & Insects,Natural Disasters :: 14 May 2010
