Work

Auditory selectivity for acoustic features that confer species recognition in the tungara frog

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: In anurans, recognition of species-specific acoustic signals is essential to finding a mate. In many species, behavioral tests have elucidated which acoustic features contribute to species recognition, but the mechanisms by which the brain encodes these species-specific signal components are less well understood. The túngara frog produces a `whine' mating call that is characterized by a descending frequency sweep. However, much of the signal is unnecessary for recognition, as recognition behavior can be triggered by a descending two-tone step that mimics the frequency change in a portion of the whine. To identify the brain regions that contribute to species recognition in the túngara frog, we exposed females to a full-spectrum whine, a descending two-tone step that elicits recognition, the reversed two-tone step that does not elicit recognition, or no sound, and we measured expression of the neural activity-dependent gene

Source: Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

DOI: 10.17615/79wy-8809

Authors: Mangiamele, Lisa A., Burmeister, Sabrina S.

Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Language: English

Topic: Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior

Subfield: Developmental Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, Innovative Research Group Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Award: Neural Biases for Elaborate Male Traits