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Female frogs prefer city slickers

ScienceMag.org ^ | Dec 10, 2018 | Elizabeth Pennisi

Posted on by ETL

Anyone who has tried to whisper sweet nothings into their lovers ear while standing on a noisy street corner can understand the plight of the túngara frog. A tiny amphibian about the size of a U.S. quarter, the male Physalaemus pustulosus has had to make its call more complex to woo mates when they move from the forest to the city. Now, researchers have found that female túngara frogs from both the country and the city prefer these mouthy city slickers.

Biologists have long studied túngara frog courtship, demonstrating that visual signals and calls by themselves are unattractive to females but together are a winning combination, and that a females decision to mate depends on the context. Now, researchers have recorded the calls of male frogs living in cities, small towns, and forests across Panama. As they played the calls back, they counted the females, frog-eating bats, and frog-biting insects lured in by each call. Then they transplanted forest-dwelling frogs to the city and city dwellers to the forest to see how females there reacted to their calls. Finally, in the lab, they tested female preference for each call.

Males living in cities and towns called more frequently and had more complex callswith louder chucks interspersed in the whinethan forest frogs, the team reports today in Nature Ecology & Evolution . When they were moved into the country, they simplified their calls; but when their country cousins were brought to the big city, they couldnt make the switch, and kept singing simply. When the researchers played back the calls to females, the females preferred more complex calls, even if the female herself was from the country, they reported.

Thus, the city frogs not only upped their game, but they were also able to adjust to being in the country again. Because the more complex calls attract more predators and pests, its likely that country frogs never added the loud chucks to their repertoire, the researchers note. But given that urban areas have fewer bats and insects, the city frogs suffer no penalty for jazzing up their love songs.



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Country frog Country frog

City frog



To: ETL

Kermit acts white.



by 2 posted onby Leep (we need a Trump like leader for President 2024!)

To: ETL

Froggy went a courtin’ and he did ride,

Sword and pistol by his side...



To: ETL

Biologists have long studied túngara frog courtship...

Who hasn’t? It’s just so excruciatingly, painfully fascinating.

Who hasn’t? It’s just so excruciatingly, painfully fascinating.

To: All





by 5 posted onby ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)

To: cuban leaf

LOL!



To: ETL

While looking for a squashed frog photo...and finally deciding against it because there's enough death and dying in this world...I discovered the OTHER "Squashed Frog"...



To: ETL

"Female frogs prefer city slickers??"



by 8 posted onby ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)

To: ETL

So it appears that this amphibian is from central and South America. Does the urban environs of these fetid jungle nations make that much difference to these female froggies? Perhaps the urban males in Mexico City and Bogota have a kind of gangsta rap cadence.



by 9 posted onby Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you .)

To: ETL

What I think is implied here is that maybe female frogs prefer the male city frogs with the bigger voices because, for them, it indicates these males have more prowess in some way and therefore would make better mates. It might further explain why it seems that many women prefer men with voices like Barry White and James Earl Jones over someone like Ben Shapiro and Steve Erkle. Girls, can I get a witness here?



by 10 posted onby fidelis (Zonie and USAF Cold Warrior)

To: fidelis

“Girls, can I get a witness here?”

____________________________________ I would tend to agree with your viewpoint! LOL



To: ETL

Or city female frogs are easy.



by 12 posted onby bgill (CDC site, "We don't know. how people are infected with Ebola.")

To: cuban leaf

And on your tax dollars.



by 13 posted onby bgill (CDC site, "We don't know. how people are infected with Ebola.")

To: moovova

What’s red and green and goes 90 miles an hour? A frog in a blender.



by 14 posted onby bgill (CDC site, "We don't know. how people are infected with Ebola.")

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