When the first rains arrive in the forests of northwest Costa Rica, yellow toads gather in the hundreds for an intense but short-lived breeding season. This year, however, they will be joined by a handful of intruders called 鈥淩oboToads.鈥 These motorized amphibians鈥3D printed in a lab鈥攃ould help uncover the secrets behind the real toads鈥 unusual mating ritual. And that鈥檚 just one of many mysteries that 3D-printed animals are starting to reveal.
Back in Canada, biologist Gr茅gory Bult茅, of 杏吧原创 University in Ottawa, is using 3D printing to answer a question that鈥檚 been bugging him for more than a decade. Bult茅 studies northern map turtles, whose females can grow to twice the length of males. He wondered whether males might be attracted to larger females, but the turtles鈥 skittish nature鈥攁nd the fact that they mate on the floor of the lake鈥攎ade observation tricky.
Bult茅鈥檚 team printed two 3D models of female turtles, identical in every aspect except size, and placed them a meter apart on the lakebed, with cameras rigged up to record how wild males reacted.
Watch male and female northern map turtles interacting with 3D printed decoys in the field:
The Biology Team consisted of:
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By Matt Warren