Frogs ceased to hear their own mating songs. But he continued to sing
Scientists have discovered two species of frogs that live in the Brazilian Atlantic forest that can’t hear mating songs of their species. Apparently, now for attracting mates these animals rely on visual stimuli. The article was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
For many toads and frogs acoustic communication plays an important role, for example when finding a partner for reproduction. Therefore, their hearing is capable of perceiving signals from individuals of the species. Among such amphibians include two species from the family sedlovskij toads (Brachycephalidae) — Brachycephalus ephippium and Brachycephalus pitanga. These small, brightly colored frogs live in forests of South-Eastern Brazil. They are poisonous; their skin glands secrete tetrodotoxin.
The creators of the work decided to find out how these frogs respond to the mating songs of their own species. For this purpose, scientists lost the female recording of the sounds produced by the males. It turned out that the animals did not respond to mating signals and not even turned at the sound source.
Examining the structure of the inner ear B. ephippium and B. pitanga, biologists have found that these toads it is underdeveloped and, therefore, amphibians can’t hear high-frequency sounds, which is a marriage song. However, toads continue to use acoustic communication, although the sounds can hear not only females, but singing males.
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The male frogs use songs to call the female and show her that they are ready to mate. But these sounds can also lure predators, and the singing itself time-consuming and energy used. The authors believe that for the studied frogs risk being eaten while they call the female, it is unlikely because they are poisonous. On the other hand, acoustic communication can replace the visual, when, during the song the male to the female sees how to move his vocal bag, this may serve as a signal for mating.