De Novo Assembly and Annotation of the Larval Transcriptome of Two Spadefoot Toads Widely Divergent in Developmental Rate

Amphibians are a highly vulnerable and highly diverse group of vertebrates for which we still have modest genomic resources. In particular, amphibian larvae are a key component of continental wetlands, where they have strong influences on energy fluxes, nutrient cycling, and community structure. Amphibian larvae are highly sensitive to environmental conditions and can often alter their physiology, behaviour and even morphology in response to the local conditions experienced, although we still know relatively little about the transcriptomic changes that enable such plasticity. Here we contribute the transcriptomes of two spadefoot toad species with divergent degrees of developmental plasticity in response to one of the most common hazards to amphibians breeding in temporary ponds, risk of pond drying.