Factors influencing the susceptibility of anurans to motion sickness.

ABSTRACT

We examined the propensity for motion sickness in five anuran species, concentrating our efforts on the treefrog Rhacophorus schlegelii, because it had shown the greatest susceptibility to motion sickness in a previous study. We used parabolic flight as our provocative stimulus and fed all specimens a known volume of food 1.5-3 h before flight. The presence of vomitus in a frog's cage was our indicator of motion sickness. Significantly more emesis was observed in flight-exposed than in control R. schlegelii (P < 0.05). There was no sex difference in susceptibility to motion sickness (P > 0.5). Individuals that vomited were significantly larger (P < 0.02) than those that did not. Among microgravity-treated frogs, those that vomited spent on average 85% more time airborne and tumbling in microgravity than those that did not vomit (P=0.031). Our data support the view that postural instability and sensory conflict are elements of motion sickness in anurans. Specifically, conflicts between tactile, vestibular and visual input seem essential for producing motion-induced emesis in anurans. Since the factors that induce motion sickness in R. schlegelii are the same ones that produce motion sickness in humans, arboreal frogs may be useful alternative models to mammals in motion sickness research.