The "predator" morph

Real life beats video games again. This is amazing. Apparently all it takes to turn a mild-mannered salamander into a deadly killing beast of fatal proportions is the right harmonic frequency. TIGHT!

THE right vibrations transform a meek salamander larva into a killing machine. The "predator" morph, with its larger head and aggressive attitude, is better adapted to grabbing larger prey.

Visual, chemical or sound signals can trigger striking morphological changes in a range of aquatic animals and amphibians. For example, in the presence of the salamander Hynobius retardatus, tadpoles of the frog Rana pirica transform into fatter forms that are too big for the predator to grab.

And, in freakily similar news:

radio-collars used to track water voles have had a drastic effect on the sex ratio of their offspring, skewing it towards males. Previous studies have found that tagging penguin wings and clipping amphibians' toes to identify individuals harm the animals' survival chances (New Scientist, 7 August 2004, p 15).

. . . In the first two years they laid traps for the animals, but in the third they switched to radio tracking at one of their sites. . .

Females fitted with the collar produced nearly five times as many male offspring as female, they found. By contrast, the sex ratio of offspring in trapped animals was even (Journal of Applied Ecology, vol 42, p 91)

Did I ever tell anyone that I love NewScientist.com?