These female frogs are the first of their kind to croon to their guys

Birds, fish, and even humans have shattered barriers when it comes to mating rituals, from which partner initiates the courting to which one picks up the check at a fancy restaurant. But things are a bit simpler for frogs, as males and females stick to clearly defined roles: Males serenade the females, and females pick their favorite males to mate. Now, a new study suggests that the smooth guardian frog of Borneo (Limnonectes palavanensis) is an exception to that rule. During the mating season, the female frogs sing to the males in an attempt to win them over—a reversal of the normal process. In fact, if you see a single frog surrounded by a bunch of serenading croakers, called a “lek,” it’s most likely a lucky male being courted by a chorus of females. Males occasionally belt out “advertisement calls” to let females know that they are available. After mating, it’s the males who stay behind to care for the eggs, even taking tadpoles to small ponds after they hatch. This is the first known example of role reversal in singing frogs, scientists write in a recent issue of Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology . It may even represent the first case of full-blown sex role reversal, which would also require that males do the mate choosing. Researchers are working on that now, but they say that—judging by the high rate of female serenading—males may be the picky ones.