Anuran Communication edited by Michael Ryan, Smithsonian Institution,
$50, ISBN 1560989734
“THESE foul and loathsome animals . . . are abhorrent because of their cold
body, offensive smell, harsh voice [and] squalid habitation, and so the Creator
has not exerted his powers to make many of them.” So said Linnaeus in his
Systema Naturae (1735). He clearly wasn’t a great fan of amphibians, but
the chances are that you will be after reading this book about how frogs
communicate.
Not all frogs attract their mates by calling. Some have elaborate
foot-flagging displays. But for most, calling is the way…
