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The significance of the multi-note advertisement calls in the reed frog, Hyperolius tuberilinguis

Pallett, J.R. & Passmore, N.I. (1988). The significance of the multi-note advertisement calls in the reed frog, Hyperolius tuberilinguis. Bioacoustics, Volume 1 (1): 13 -23

 

Abstract: 

The reed frog Hyperolius tuberilinguis is a prolonged breeder with an advertisement call that varies in complexity from one to six click notes. Call complexity increases with chorus size, but calls containing more than three notes are rare. In playback experiments to males, subjects responded by increasing the complexity of their calls, without closely matching the stimulus and rarely exceeding the stimulus in complexity. Stimuli less complex than their own evoked a reduction in complexity. Call repetition rate remained unchanged in the responses. In two-choice phonotaxis experiments, females discriminated against one-note calls, and two- and three-note calls were the most attractive. Males thus adjust their calling in the presence of neighbours to a pattern most preferred by females. Calls of higher complexity may be more easily detected or located by females in the noisy environment of a chorus.

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