Adjustment of Túngara Frog Calling Behavior to Playback Call Rate
Poster Number
24C
Faculty Mentor Name
Marcos Gridi-Papp
Research or Creativity Area
Other
Abstract
The male túngara frog, Engystomops pustulosus, produces advertisement calls to attract conspecific females. Males compete for mates by participating in choruses composed of many calling males, who time their calls to prevent overlap with those of their neighbors. This behavior enhances male attractiveness to females, while influencing the number of calls a male produces in a calling bout. This study addressed how various playback rates (high, mean, and low) influence male calling behavior affecting call characteristics. We predicted that increased playback call rates would produce: (1) increases in the total number of calls produced by the male; and (2) a decrease in call period (inverse of callrate). Data were collected one hour before the artificial sunset (3:00 PM), one hour after artificial sunset (5:00 PM), and three hours after sunset (7:00 PM). Each data collection interval lasted 30 min, alternating 5 min of silence with 5 min of playback. The playback varied in call rate on a pre-defined schedule. Preliminary data indicate that male response varied with playback call rate in alignment with our predictions. Males increased their total number of calls when responding to the higher rate playback and decreased their total number of calls when responding to the lower rate playback. With extended silence periods removed from the analysis, males decreased their call period (increased call rate) when hearing high rate playback, and increased their call period (decreased call rate) when hearing low rate playback. This indicates that males adjust their calling behavior, changing call timing when playback rates deviate from the natural mean. These findings provide insight into how dynamic acoustic interactions shape the dynamics of the chorus, demonstrating that males optimize call timing in competitive social environments.
Location
University of the Pacific, DeRosa University Center
Start Date
24-4-2026 11:00 AM
End Date
24-4-2026 2:00 PM
Adjustment of Túngara Frog Calling Behavior to Playback Call Rate
University of the Pacific, DeRosa University Center
The male túngara frog, Engystomops pustulosus, produces advertisement calls to attract conspecific females. Males compete for mates by participating in choruses composed of many calling males, who time their calls to prevent overlap with those of their neighbors. This behavior enhances male attractiveness to females, while influencing the number of calls a male produces in a calling bout. This study addressed how various playback rates (high, mean, and low) influence male calling behavior affecting call characteristics. We predicted that increased playback call rates would produce: (1) increases in the total number of calls produced by the male; and (2) a decrease in call period (inverse of callrate). Data were collected one hour before the artificial sunset (3:00 PM), one hour after artificial sunset (5:00 PM), and three hours after sunset (7:00 PM). Each data collection interval lasted 30 min, alternating 5 min of silence with 5 min of playback. The playback varied in call rate on a pre-defined schedule. Preliminary data indicate that male response varied with playback call rate in alignment with our predictions. Males increased their total number of calls when responding to the higher rate playback and decreased their total number of calls when responding to the lower rate playback. With extended silence periods removed from the analysis, males decreased their call period (increased call rate) when hearing high rate playback, and increased their call period (decreased call rate) when hearing low rate playback. This indicates that males adjust their calling behavior, changing call timing when playback rates deviate from the natural mean. These findings provide insight into how dynamic acoustic interactions shape the dynamics of the chorus, demonstrating that males optimize call timing in competitive social environments.
