Mechanisms and Function of Call-Timing in Male-Male Interactions in Frogs

In many species of frogs females choose between males on the basis of their advertisement calling (e.g. see reviews by Wells 1977, 1988). Acoustic signals are also important in the context of territorial male-male interactions (e.g. see reviews by Wells 1977, 1988). For maximising the number of intended receivers, calling males have evolved signals that have a very high sound pressure level (SPL) in the range of 90 to 120dB SPL (measured at 0.5m distance; see Loftus-Hills and Littlejohn 1971; Gerhardt 1975; Passmore 1981; Narins and Hurley 1982). In all species of anurans studied, acoustic advertisement was found to be the most energetically expensive behaviour observed (e.g. Taigen and Wells 1984; Prestwich et al. 1989). Thus, strategies that improve a frog’s ability to transmit acoustic signals more efficiently are likely to be selectively advantageous.

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